Blackrock's pro-Russian orientation and AstraZeneca's Moscow branch
AstraZeneca structures at the mercy of the Ministry of Health budget?
January 16, 2025
Are Russian officials lobbying for the interests of a company linked to offshore companies and the BlackRock fund?
In early January, the Federal Center for Planning and Organization of Drug Provision for Citizens (FCPILO, Director – Elena Maksimkina), controlled by the Ministry of Health, signed two contracts for the supply of the drug Asfotaza Alfa worth 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 worth almost 2.4 billion. Cooperation with the contractor is not hindered by the fact that Alexion Pharma is owned by foreign companies – 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 financial statements of Alexion Pharma: through the Russian LLC AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, it is the British-Swedish biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, whose headquarters are in Cambridge. Back in 2020, AstraZeneca and the Russian N.F. Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology announced the start of cooperation in the field of clinical trials of the combined use of coronavirus vaccines - AZD1222 and Sputnik V. However, in March 2021, AstraZeneca found itself at the center of a high-profile international scandal associated with the refusal of a number of EU countries to use the AZD1222 vaccine developed by the company jointly with Oxford University. The reason was side effects, including those that ended in death. 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 worth a total of $11.5 trillion and has its own interests in Ukraine. In particular, in December 2022, the Ukrainian authorities signed an agreement with BlackRock to "coordinate efforts to restore the country", and in June 2023, with the participation of the investment company JPMorgan Chase, a special fund was created in Kyiv for these purposes. Affiliation with offshore companies and BlackRock does not prevent high-ranking Russian officials from lobbying for the interests of the same Alexion Pharma, and AstraZeneca structures from "mastering" billions in budget contracts.
Budget Billions for Alexion Pharma
Immediately after the end of the New Year holidays, the Federal Center for Planning and Organization of Drug Provision for Citizens ( FCP FCPILO ), controlled by the Ministry of Health, decided on a contractor for the supply of the drug Asfotase Alpha: the institution concluded a contract worth more than 1.8 billion rubles and with a deadline of December 31, 2025, with the Moscow company Alexion Pharma .
On the same day, that is, January 9, the management of the FCPILO signed another contractwith 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 is enviable : in December alone, it received contracts from the FCPILO for the supply of antitumor drugs and drugs for the treatment of diseases of the digestive tract and metabolism (which includes Asfotase alpha).
Without taking into account the last contract, the public procurement portfolio of Alexion Pharma exceeds 11 billion rubles , and the company cooperates mainly with the FCPILO. In fairness, it should be noted that in December 2023, the Penza Regional Clinical Hospital named after N.N. Burdenko signed a contract with the company for the supply of medical products worth 18.9 million . And then, like from a cornucopia, contracts from the FCPILO poured 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, according to the results of 2023, Alexion Pharma declared revenue in the amount of 67.3 million rubles and a profit of 3.8 million . In 2022, revenue amounted to 44.9 million , profit - 2.6 million , in 2021 revenue - 43.4 million , profit - 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 State Institution "FCPILO", which has been headed by Elena Maksimkina since November 2020, that is, since its creation . In 2013, Maksimkina was an assistant to the Minister of Health (at that time, this post was held by Veronika Skvortsova ), and then headed the Department of Drug Supply and Regulation of Circulation of Medical Devices of the Ministry of Health.
Offshore "owners" of the contractor FCPILO
But let's get back to Alexion Pharma LLC, which has become one of the favorite contractors of the FCPILO in such a short time. 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 that you pay attention to is the foreign owners of the company: these are the Dutch Alexion Holding B.V. (99.1%) and the Swiss Alexion Pharma GMBH (0.9%).
That is, part of the profit of the Russian supplier of medicines is very likely to "settle" in accounts in Western banks. Against the backdrop of the sanctions standoff, this circumstance apparently does not bother either Ms. 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.
It gets even more interesting. From the explanatory note to the balance sheet and the financial results report 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 the Irish company Alexion Pharma International Operations Limited and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LLC , which is registered in Moscow .
Let's focus on AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. The company was registered in 2005 and specializes in the wholesale trade of pharmaceuticals. Its sole owner is the British AstraZeneca Treasury Limited . The situation with budget contracts for the Russian subsidiary of the British company is not as impressive as that of Alexion Pharma: the company signed its only contract worth 67.2 million rubles for the supply of the drug Tixagevimab in September 2022 with the Procurement Agency (Contract Service) of the Moscow Department of Health.
Nevertheless, at the end of 2023, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals reported revenue of 67.5 billion and net profit of 369.8 million rubles . For comparison: a year earlier, with revenue of 53.7 billion, the company went "into the minus" by 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 explanatory note to the balance sheet and the financial results report of Alexion Pharma, it follows that in July 2021, the deal was closed to acquire Alexion Group (which includes the Russian drug supplier) by AstraZeneca Plc , which is currently the ultimate controlling organization of the above-mentioned structures, 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-oriented biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and launch of prescription drugs primarily in such therapeutic areas as oncology, cardiology, nephrology and metabolism, respiratory and autoimmune diseases, as well as rare diseases," the organization's website says .
It is emphasized that AstraZeneca, based in Cambridge, UK, is represented in more than a hundred countries around the world. Thus, Russian budget institutions purchase medicines from commercial structures that are under direct foreign influence, moreover, their central headquarters are located in one of the unfriendly countries!
The media reported in December 2020 that the British-Swedish AstraZeneca had purchased the American drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals . It was specified that the deal, worth $39 billion , was being carried out with the aim of strengthening AstraZeneca's position "in the field of immunology ." As Kommersant wrote , the company was considered a leader in developing a coronavirus vaccine, but it eventually lost ground to American competitors Pfizer and Moderna .
At the same time, in December 2020, it became known about the start of cooperation between AstraZeneca and the Russian N.F. Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology in the field of clinical trials of the combined use of COVID-19 vaccines - AZD1222 and Sputnik V. The topic of the introduction of Sputnik V deserves a separate discussion. As for the AZD1222 vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca jointly with Oxford University, already in March 2021, EU countries one after another began to refuse to use it due to the identified side effects, which in some cases led to death. It turns out that domestic medicine has chosen a rather dubious business partner?
Where have BlackRock's tentacles reached?
There is another interesting moment in the history of cooperation with AstraZeneca, 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 , whose headquarters are located in New York. As of October 2024, the value of assets under the management of the investment fund reached a historical maximum and amounted to 11.5 trillion dollars (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 insisted in 2014 on AstraZeneca buying another pharmaceutical manufacturer, the aforementioned American company Pfizer, but the deal never took place. And in December 2022, the Ukrainian authorities signed an agreementwith BlackRock on “coordinating efforts” to restore Ukraine, implying “directing investments into the most relevant and effective 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 by Kiev.
Does anyone have any illusions about the pro-Russian orientation of the international "octopus" called "BlackRock"? And, nevertheless, affiliation with it 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 received finances end up is a big question, but it is no less interesting which of the high-ranking officials lobbies the interests of "Aleksion Pharma", controlled by "AstraZeneca"?
Source: https://compromat.group/main/economics/133095-struktury-astrazeneca-na-raspile-byudzheta-minzdrava.html