Importer to re-export Sputnik V if desired price not fixed

KARACHI: Russian vaccine Sputnik V importer has threatened to ‘re-export’ 50,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine if the government does not set the desired price, officials say.

The importer has also confirmed selling the shipment to some other country as “an option if appropriate price is not fixed”. “AGP Limited, which imported 50,000 doses of Sputnik V, has during verbal communication threatened to re-export the shipment if the desired price is not fixed by the government.

 The DRAP drug pricing committee had recommended Rs8,449 per two doses, which is not acceptable to the importer,” a federal government official confided to The News.

The importer wants the government to apply appropriate price as per government’s formula of 40% in addition to landing cost [of the product] while fixing the price. 

“The government is already facing harsh criticism for the Rs8449 price recommended by the DRAP pricing committee. It was calculated on the basis of landing cost of 30 dollars but people are comparing it with the cost of Russian vaccine in India and criticising the government for fixing a higher price as compared to neighboring country,” the official added.