MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. The authorization process for Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in each of the 66 countries was a "true battle", CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said in an interview with RBK.

"The vaccine is currently registered in 66 countries and it is massive success. At the same time, the registration in practically any of these countries was a true battle. We faced active opposition from other players everywhere who did not want to let Russia in and resisted the registration of the Russian vaccine," he noted.

According to Dmitriev, there were several breakthroughs with the Sputnik V authorization which helped to move the overall process forward.

"For instance, the very first registration of Sputnik V in Argentina opened our doors to Latin America. Other countries in the region followed after Argentina. The clinical trials in the UAE and India which were organized and financed by the RDIF also made it possible for us to achieve registration in India, the second most populated country in the world, and a number of registrations in other countries in the region," he noted.

According to Dmitriev, the issue of registration of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine will be addressed in the next several months.

"Everything is moving positively, and the registration issue will be resolved in the next few months," he underlined.

Dmitriev noted that the pandemic revealed that the WHO was lacking leverage to influence vaccine distribution in the world.

"The organization turned out to lack instruments of influence over production facilities which are few anyway. COVAX also significantly slowed down the vaccine distribution globally. They relied on an Indian producer who is now mandated to supply all vaccines only to India," the RDIF CEO emphasized, adding that this pandemic should teach us a lesson to be more prepared to other similar challenges.