UPDATED: Finance Minister Matovič flew to Moscow for Sputnik negotiations

Russians want the vaccine back, citing contract violations.

Igor MatovičIgor Matovič (Source: SITA)

Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) took an unexpected Sputnik-related trip to Moscow on Thursday, April 8.

Matovič, who stepped down as prime minister and took the post of the finance minister one week before the trip, wrote on his Facebook that he was meeting Kirill Dmitriev in Russia. Dmitriev is the representative of the investment fund who negotiated the purchase of the Sputnik V vaccine in February 2021 with Matovič, back then as prime minister.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

“From the bottom of my heart I condemn any punitive and systematic efforts to prevent Sputnik V from being used in Slovakia, and will do everything to make them ultimately fail and make sure one million people in Slovakia can finally start getting vaccinated with Sputnik V,” Matovič wrote.

SkryťTurn off ads

The first batch of 200,000 vaccines from Russia landed in Slovakia on March 1, igniting a coalition crisis that resulted in a recent government reshuffle. Matovič was vastly criticised for welcoming the vaccines at Košice Airport. Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korčok then said that Sputnik V was a tool of a hybrid war.

The national medicines agency claims the batches brought to Slovakia are not the same as those under review in the Lancet journal, and has not issued its approval for the vaccine, citing the lack of data. Neither have the vaccines been approved by the European Medicines Agency.

After Matovič flew to Moscow, the Russian Direct Investment Fund tweeted that they requested the Slovak government to return the vaccine due to "multiple contract violations".

SkryťTurn off ads

Only the name Sputnik fits

Six weeks have passed since the delivery of Sputnik V and vaccination with it has not been launched. The delivered batch underwent vaccine lab tests. The State Institute for Drug Control (ŠÚKL), the Slovak national medicines agency, stated this week that it could not make a conclusive decision on Sputnik V vaccine's safety and efficacy, due to the lack of data the Russian producer allegedly failed to provide.

Chair of ŠÚKL, Zuzana Baťová, said that the Sputnik V producer has not provided about 80 percent of the data vital for the evaluation of the vaccines. ŠÚKL still recommends using only registered vaccines in Slovakia, the TASR newswire reported.

The rest of this article is premium content at Spectator.sk
Subscribe now for full access

I already have subscription - Sign in

Subscription provides you with:
  • Immediate access to all locked articles (premium content) on Spectator.sk
  • Special weekly news summary + an audio recording with a weekly news summary to listen to at your convenience (received on a weekly basis directly to your e-mail)
  • PDF version of the latest issue of our newspaper, The Slovak Spectator, emailed directly to you
  • Access to all premium content on Sme.sk and Korzar.sk

Top stories

Slovakia marks 20 years since joining NATO.

Slovakia marks 20 years in the Alliance.


Daniel Hoťka and 1 more
Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad