Are Russian officials lobbying for the interests of a company associated with offshore companies and the BlackRock fund?
At the beginning of January, the Federal Center for Planning and Organization of Medicinal Provision of Citizens (FKU FCPILO, director – Elena Maksimkina), controlled by the Ministry of Health, signed two contracts for the supply of the drug Asfotaza alfa with a total value of more than 1.8 billion rubles with Moscow-based Alexion Pharma LLC ” In fact, FCPILO is the only customer of this company, having signed contracts with it in 2024 for the supply of drugs for almost 2.4 billion. Cooperation with the contractor is not hampered by the fact that Alexion Pharma belongs to foreign owners – the Dutch company Alexion Holding B.V. and the Swiss Alexion Pharma GMBH. The ultimate beneficiary of the founding companies becomes known from the official accounting statements of Alexion Pharma: through the Russian AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LLC, this is the British-Swedish biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, whose headquarters are located in Cambridge. Back in 2020, AstraZeneca and the Russian Research Center for Epidemiology and Epidemiology named after. N.F. Gamaleya announced the start of cooperation in the field of clinical studies of the combined use of coronavirus vaccines – AZD1222 and Sputnik V. Only in March 2021, AstraZeneca found itself at the center of a high-profile international scandal related to the refusal of a number of European Union countries to use the AZD1222 vaccine developed by the company together with the University of Oxford. The cause was side effects, including deaths. It is also known that AstraZeneca is affiliated with the international investment fund BlackRock, which the media wrote about as the largest shareholder of the pharmaceutical company. BlackRock, headquartered in New York, manages assets totaling $11.5 trillion and has its own interests in Ukraine. In particular, in December 2022, the Ukrainian authorities concluded an agreement with BlackRock on “coordinating efforts to restore the country,” and in June 2023, with the participation of the investment company JPMorgan Chase in Kyiv, a special fund was created for these purposes. Affiliation with offshore companies and BlackRock does not prevent high-ranking Russian officials from lobbying the interests of the same Alexion Pharma, and AstraZeneca structures from “developing” billions from budget contracts.
Budget billions for Alexion Pharma
Immediately after the end of the New Year holidays, controlled by the Ministry of Health “Federal Center for Planning and Organization of Medicine Provision for Citizens” (FKU “FCPILO”) has decided on a contractor for the supply of the drug “Asfotase alfa”: a contract worth more than 1.8 billion rubles and the execution date is December 31, 2025, the institution entered into a contract with the Moscow company “Alexion Pharma”.
On the same day, that is, January 9, the management of the FCPILO signed another contract with Alexion Pharma LLC for the supply of the same drug and with the same deadline, but at a lower cost – 26.2 million rubles. In fact, the company’s success can be envied: in December alone, it received contracts from the Federal Institution FCPILO with a total value of almost 2.4 billion for the supply of antitumor drugs and drugs for the treatment of diseases of the digestive tract and metabolism (this includes Asfotase alfa).
Without taking into account the latest contract, Alexion Pharma’s government procurement portfolio exceeds 11 billion rublesand the company cooperates mainly with the FSPILO. To be fair, we note that in December 2023, a contract for the supply of medical drugs worth 18.9 million signed with the company Penza Regional Clinical Hospital named after. N.N. Burdenko. And then, as if from a cornucopia, contracts from the FCPILO began to pour in.
It is noteworthy that Alexion Pharma, registered in 2011, began to actively “master” federal billions only in 2024. Although, judging by the financial statements, the company was not in poverty before. Thus, at the end of 2023, Alexion Pharma declared revenue in the amount of 67.3 million rubles and profit in 3.8 million. In 2022, revenue amounted to 44.9 millionprofit – 2.6 millionin 2021 revenue – 43.4 millionprofit – 1.6 million rubles etc.
It will be interesting to get acquainted with the financial indicators for 2024 and compare how much they have grown thanks to the “care” of the Federal Institution “FCPILO”, which has been led since November 2020, that is, since its inception Elena Maksimkina. In 2013, Maksimkina was assistant to the Minister of Health (at that time this post was held by Veronica Skvortsova), and then headed the Department of Drug Supply and Regulation of Medical Products of the Ministry of Health.
Offshore “owners” of the FCPILO contractor
But let’s return to Alexion Pharma LLC, which in such a short time became one of the favorite contractors of the FCPILO. The main activity of the enterprise is “scientific research and development in the field of natural and technical sciences”, the number of employees, according to data for 2023, is only three people. But the main thing you pay attention to is the foreign owners of the company: these are the Dutch “Alexion Holding B.V.” (99.1%) and Swiss “Alexion Pharma GMBH” (0.9%).
That is, part of the profit of a Russian supplier of medicines with a high degree of probability “settles” in accounts in Western banks. Against the backdrop of the sanctions confrontation, this circumstance apparently does not confuse either Mrs. Maksimkina or the officials of the Ministry of Health. As well as the fact that the Netherlands, being a member of the European Union, is included in the list of countries and territories unfriendly to Russia approved by the federal government.
What follows is even more interesting. From the explanation to the balance sheet and financial statement of Alexion Pharma LLC for 2023, it follows that in addition to the above-mentioned Western companies, the Russian legal entity is also associated with an Irish company “Alexion Pharma International Operations Limited” and “registered” in Moscow AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LLC.
Let’s focus on AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. The company was registered in 2005 and specializes in the wholesale trade of pharmaceuticals. Its only owner is British AstraZeneca Treasure Limited. The situation with budget contracts for the Russian subsidiary of the British company is not as impressive as for Alexion Pharma: the only contract worth 67.2 million rubles The company signed a contract for the supply of the drug Tixagevimab in September 2022 with “Purchasing Agency (Contract Service)” metropolitan Department of Health.
However, at the end of 2023, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals reported revenue of 67.5 billion and net profit in the amount 369.8 million rubles. For comparison: a year earlier with revenue of 53.7 billion the company went into the red 14.5 million rubles. Perhaps the money, including finances from the contract with the Moscow Procurement Agency, was simply transferred to the accounts of the “parent” structure?
AstraZeneca’s dubious achievements
Again, from the explanation to the balance sheet and income statement of Alexion Pharma, it follows that in July 2021 the acquisition transaction was closed “Alexion Group” (which includes the Russian drug supplier) by the company AstraZeneca Plcwhich today is the ultimate controlling organization of the structures listed above, including Alexion Pharma, Alexion Holding B.V. and Alexion Pharma GmbH.
What is AstraZeneca, the Russian legal entity of which is headed by Irina Panarina? AstraZeneca is an international science-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and marketing of prescription drugs primarily in the therapeutic areas of oncology, cardiology, nephrology and metabolism, respiratory and autoimmune diseases, and rare diseases.”says the organization’s website.
It is emphasized that AstraZeneca, based in Cambridge, UK, is represented in more than a hundred countries around the world. Thus, Russian budgetary institutions purchase medicines from commercial structures under direct foreign influence, moreover, their central headquarters is located in one of the unfriendly countries!
On the purchase of the British-Swedish AstraZeneca of the American drug manufacturer Alexion Pharmaceuticals Media reported in December 2020. It was clarified that the deal was worth $39 billion carried out with the aim of strengthening the position of AstraZeneca “in the field of immunology”. As Kommersant wrote, the company was considered a leader in the development of a vaccine against coronavirus, but in the end it lost ground, losing ground to American competitors Pfizer And “Moderna”.
Then, in December 2020, it became known about the start of cooperation between AstraZeneca and the Russian NICEM named after. N.F. Gamaleya in the field of clinical studies of the combined use of vaccines against COVID-19 – “AZD1222” and “Sputnik” V” The topic of Sputnik V implementation deserves a separate discussion. As for the AZD1222 vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca together with the University of Oxford, already in March 2021, EU countries, one after another, began to refuse its use due to identified side effects, in some cases causing death. It turns out that domestic medicine has chosen a rather dubious business partner?
Where have BlackRock’s tentacles reached?
In the history of cooperation with AstraZeneca, there is another interesting point related to the shareholders of the British-Swedish company. It is known from open sources that one of its largest co-owners was a large international investment fund “BlackRock”headquartered in New York. As of October 2024, the value of assets managed by the investment fund reached a historical maximum and amounted to $11.5 trillion (according to experts, this is more than the GDP of Russia, China and India combined). Among others, BlackRock is present in the capital of such giants as “Apple”, “Microsoft”, “Facebook”, McDonald’s, “Siemens” etc.
It was this mega-corporation that in 2014 insisted on purchasing AstraZeneca from another pharmaceutical manufacturer, the aforementioned American company Pfizer, but the deal never took place. And in December 2022, the Ukrainian authorities entered into an agreement with BlackRock on “coordination of efforts” to restore Ukraine, implying “direction of investments in the most relevant and efficient sectors of the economy”. To this end, in June 2023, BlackRock and the investment company JPMorgan Chase took part in the creation of a special fund in Kyiv.
Does anyone have illusions about the pro-Russian orientation of the international “octopus” called “BlackRock”? And, nevertheless, affiliation with him does not prevent AstraZeneca structures from not only working in Russia, but “mastering” billions in contracts with institutions of the Ministry of Health. Where the resulting finances end up is a big question, but no less interesting is which of the high-ranking officials is lobbying the interests of Alexion Pharma, controlled by AstraZeneca?
