Russia is the most trusted vaccine producer alongside the US, with Sputnik V being the most recognizable vaccine, a YouGov poll shows

Moscow, March 24, 2021 – The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund), announces the results of a YouGov survey with 9,417 respondents from 9 countries on their vaccine preferences and country of preference in terms of vaccine production.

According to the survey, 54% of respondents who selected a country they trust to produce a vaccine, considered Russia the most trusted vaccine producer alongside the US and leaving the UK behind, when asked to choose the 3 countries they trusted the most to produce a vaccine. Sputnik V, the world’s first registered vaccine against coronavirus, is the most recognizable one – over 7 in 10 (74%) of those surveyed have heard of the Russian vaccine. Sputnik V is also among Top-2 most preferred vaccines, just after the one produced by Pfizer/BioNTech.

The survey was conducted between February 18 and March 3 by YouGov, the leading UK-based company in market research and data analytics in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Residents of India, Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam, Argentina, Algeria, the UAE and Serbia participated in the poll. More than 2 billion people, or over 25% of the world's population, live in these countries.

Key findings of the poll:

·         Russia came out as the most trusted vaccine producing country, alongside the US and leaving the UK behind, when asked to choose the 3 countries they trusted the most to produce a vaccine.

·        One in three respondents (33%) among those who have made their choice, would prefer to be vaccinated with Sputnik V.

·        This is the second most-preferred vaccine after Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (37%).

·        Sputnik V is the most recognizable vaccine: 74% of those surveyed have heard of the Russian vaccine; Pfizer/BioNTech is in second place (69%), while AstraZeneca (University of Oxford) holds third position with 60%.

·        Almost half (47%) of the respondents who have made their choice only consider a minimum vaccine efficacy level of 90% or more acceptable for their vaccination (for example, Sputnik V, which has a proven efficacy of 91.6%).

·        An overwhelming number of respondents (84%) would be willing to postpone their vaccination with a less effective vaccine of around 60%, for a vaccine with a higher efficacy of over 90%.

·        77 percent of respondents believe that governments should provide equal access to all the different vaccines for the population and give everyone a choice which vaccine to have for vaccination.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, commented:

“Results of the YouGov survey in various parts of the world once again demonstrate the high confidence of respondents in Russia as a vaccine producer and in the Sputnik V vaccine. Thanks to the outstanding achievements of Russian science, the Sputnik V vaccine has been saving lives around the world as it is approved for use in more than 50 countries. The vaccine has a number of key benefits, including an efficacy of 91.6%, confirmed by the leading medical journal The Lancet, as well as a proven to be safe human adenoviral vector platform, attractive supply chain logistics and affordability, making Sputnik V one of the best vaccines in the world.”

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Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF’s management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling more than RUB2 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 800,000 people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia’s GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries that total more than $40 bn. Further information can be found at rdif.ru

For additional information contact:

Alexey Urazov                                        Andrew Leach / Maria Shiryaevskaya

Russian Direct Investment Fund            Hudson Sandler

Director for External Communications

Mobile: +7 915 312 76 65                       Tel: +44 (0) 20 7796 4133

E-mail: Alexey.Urazov@rdif.ru

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 9,417 adults in India (1,022), Brazil (1,006), Mexico (1,009), the Philippines (1,127), Vietnam (1,112), Argentina (1,002), Algeria (1,085), the UAE (1,054) and Serbia (1,000). Fieldwork was undertaken between February 18 – March 3, 2021. The survey was conducted online.