Nikola Lukasic, the Russian Investment Fund (RIFD) representative wrote to the director of the Public Health Institute of Bosnia’s Federation (FBiH) entity, Davor Pehar, accusing the Banja Luka based Krajinagroup of allegedly obstructing the procurement of the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V for the FBiH.

In the letter, he states that he “received an appeal from a friend from Sarajevo to help them with the purchase of the Sputnik V vaccine” and that he “accepted it for personal and moral reasons through his long-term business contacts – unconditionally.”

“For reasons unknown to me, [sic] various obstructions were made towards Moscow and the procurement of vaccines in the FBiH from Krajinagroup doo Banja Luka, which is degrading other legitimate companies from the FBiH and me personally with its incorrect business practices, and through its direct contacts in the public sphere throughout the region, trying to damage the entire reputation of both the companies and me personally with lies and compromising information,” Lukasic wrote.

He further states that on March 23 this year, the delegation from Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity requested a meeting in Moscow with the RDIF at which they allegedly requested an exclusive agreement on the procurement of the vaccine for the entire BiH. This request was allegedly rejected by the RDIF, noting that the fund would never allow such a thing to anyone.

Krajinagroup, on the other hand, said they are still the only drug company undergoing a registration process for the import of the Sputnik V vaccine with the BiH Drug Administration.

“We have no information concerning the stage of the registration procedure of the Sputnik V vaccine, regarding the request submitted by the company Krajinagroup d.o.o. Banja Luka. Considering that the submitted documentation is very extensive and the procedure that involves the registration of the medicine is complex, it is too early to make projections on the date of completion of the procedure,” said Dejan Lukajic from Krajinagroup d.o.o. Banja Luka.

Lukajic denies all information that Krajinagroup gave up on the participation in the procurement of vaccines for the FBiH Public Health Institute, adding that it will submit the final offer with exact delivery deadlines to the Ad-hoc team of the FBiH Government after receiving written confirmation of possible delivery dates.