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Markus Söder (CSU), Prime Minister of Bavaria, on February 23, 2022 in the Bavarian state parliament: “From our point of view, it is inconceivable that this project can now be realized”
Photo: Sven Hoppe / dpa
Bavaria stops production of the Russian corona vaccine Sputnik V.
This applies even if the vaccine is approved by the European Medicines Agency, said Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder, citing Russia's recent aggression against Ukraine.
According to Söder, neither contracts for the production of the vaccine in Germany nor approval by the European Union have been signed.
"From our point of view, it is inconceivable that this project can now be implemented," said Söder in the Bavarian state parliament.
"This is over."
Last year, the Bavarian Ministry of Health signed a letter of intent with the Russian state investment fund RDIF, which is marketing the vaccine.
The state planned to buy 2.5 million doses of Sputnik V once the vaccine is approved by the European Medicines Agency, Ema.
The Russian pharmaceutical company R-Pharm set up a production facility in Bavaria in order to create regional production capacities in Germany, in which up to eight to ten million vaccine doses were to be produced every month.
Former Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) said in April that Germany was negotiating with Russia a preliminary contract to buy the Sputnik-V vaccine, whose approval by the Ema is still pending.
Neither R-Pharm Germany nor the Federal Ministry of Health have so far been available for a statement to the Reuters news agency.
jso/Reuters