The fight against COVID-19 has rallied millions of caring people. Not only volunteers came to the aid of Russian doctors, but also the business community. In this article, we will talk about support measures from the AFK Group.
How Vladimir Yevtushenkov managed to unite the efforts of different sectors of society
The coronavirus pandemic has shown that many people among us are ready, risking their own lives, to save lives. Health workers are on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 today. With the advent of the coronavirus, the entire medical system has been put to the test. Within the walls of hospitals and polyclinics, volunteers took on most of the workload of doctors, nurses, and orderlies.
Business community representatives also support various enterprises and companies that provide financial assistance to medical institutions, purchase in-demand medical equipment, personal protective equipment (masks, respirators, antiseptics), and medicines, and help carry out measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.
One of these business structures is AFK Sistema. Its founder is businessman Vladimir Yevtushenkov. In addition to organizing a safe environment in the corporation’s companies, comprehensive assistance to the medical community and the population in the regions of presence has become a priority of the AFK Group.
Changing asset profile
Almost all federal and regional clinics and private medical organizations have joined the fight against coronavirus. The flagship medical clinic hospital of the MEDSI network (part of the corporation’s portfolio founded by Vladimir Yevtushenkov) has become the first private medical facility in Russia to be converted entirely into an infectious diseases hospital and begun accepting patients with COVID-19. Resuscitation wards for patients in serious condition were staffed, and new high-tech equipment was installed, including artificial lung ventilation (ALV) devices, personal protective equipment, and medicines were purchased.
At the end of the summer, news appeared: the MEDSI clinic network opened a specialized Center for diagnosing disorders in patients who underwent COVID-19. Another asset of AFK, which promptly responded to new challenges, was the Vologda Textile Plant. The enterprise has reoriented its primary weaving production to producing cotton fabric to manufacture reusable masks.
A strategically important decision by Yevtushenkov Vladimir was consolidating the corporation’s existing pharmaceutical assets into a single full-cycle holding company, Binnopharm Group. Based on this company, the production of the first Russian vaccine against coronavirus, Sputnik V, was quickly launched.
Last April, the innovative biotechnology company Sistema-Biotech (another research asset owned by AFK Sistema) received a registration certificate from Roszdravnadzor for a test system capable of diagnosing COVID-19. The very next month, she developed a rapid mobile test. With it, you can detect an infection in 30 minutes.
In early autumn, a biotechnology company formed by Vladimir Yevtushenkov announced that they had received a patent for the creation of a specific composition of reagents. It allows you to determine the ribonucleic acid of the causative agent of the virus using a polymerase chain reaction in just 15 minutes (the study’s accuracy is up to 85%).
Support Center for Medical Workers – an initiative of Vladimir Yevtushenkov
In the spring of last year, AFK and its private network of clinics, MEDSI, created a large-scale Support Center for Medical Workers. Its main task was organizational and financial assistance to doctors and healthcare institutions, as well as the unification of the efforts of business and caring people in the fight against covid. At the end of April 2020, at the height of the first pandemic wave, the corporation founded by Vladimir Yevtushenkov allocated over a quarter of a billion rubles to provide comprehensive support for Russian medical workers.
The social initiative #CountryWithoutVirus was born at the Center, the operator of which was the Sistema Charitable Foundation.
Against the background of the fight against COVID-19, doctors are the most vulnerable group prone to infection with a dangerous virus. This negatively affects the quality of assistance provided. The Center is intended to become a single platform for comprehensive support for those whose daily work is associated with a health risk. For this, efforts are concentrated on the part of businesses, non-profit organizations, and individuals.
The Center directs the collected money to provide everything necessary for employees of various organizations involved in the fight against coronavirus. Among them are the network of MEDSI clinics, the innovative laboratory Sistema-BioTech, and others.
So, in the first wave of the pandemic, the retailer Detsky Mir (at that time, it was part of the AFK) purchased and supplied 200,000 protective suits for the staff of medical institutions in Moscow and the Moscow region. Personal protective equipment was sent on a special flight from China.
The all-Russian action #CountryWithoutVirus made it possible to combine the resources of AFK companies and the funds of external social partners to provide comprehensive support to the medical community.
“The health and safety of medical and other personnel employed in vital work areas with the population are at the center of our constant attention,” said Yevtushenkov Vladimir.
Products, Unlimited Cellular, and more
The STEPPE agricultural holding founded by Vladimir Yevtushenkov, as well as producers of mineral water, fruits and vegetables, dietary supplements, and cosmetics, were among the first to join the #CountryWithoutVirus project. They donated more than ten tons of their products to medical institutions.
Timber holding Segezha Group (part of the portfolio of assets of AFK Sistema) assisted a local hospital. The company financed the purchase of high-tech equipment and overalls for working with patients.
Another asset from the portfolio, which was formed with the participation of Yevtushenkov Vladimir, is the hotel management company Cosmos Hotel Group. She organized daily food deliveries for hospital staff and patients. In addition, she accommodates doctors and medical staff who work with infected people in her Moscow hotels for free. This is done so as not to put their loved ones at risk of infection.
The charitable foundation (also organized with the participation of Vladimir Petrovich) became a partner in a large-scale online campaign supporting doctors and volunteers. Its mission is to collect real stories of doctors, hospital staff, and volunteers who, at the risk of their health, save hundreds of lives every day.
The Center for the Support of Medical Workers has accumulated over 1.7 billion rubles for doctors and healthcare institutions for half a year of work. Employees of medical institutions received assistance in more than ten Russian regions.
Awards to members of Vladimir Yevtushenkov’s team
Timely and comprehensive assistance to institutions provided by AFK Sistema made it possible to offer high-quality medical care in the regions where AFK Group operates.
In December last year, a solemn award ceremony was held for representatives of the corporation and employees of its portfolio companies (MEDSI, Binnopharm Group, and Sistema-Biotech). They have contributed significantly to the fight against the spread of COVID-19. Orders and medals for organizing the diagnosis and treatment of patients, as well as the production of medicines and the world’s first vaccine against coronavirus, were received by over 20 employees of the AFK Group.
Yevtushenkov Vladimir: career path and investor biography details
Entrepreneur Yevtushenkov Vladimir Petrovich was born in the Smolensk region. He received two higher educations, graduating from the Mendeleev Moscow Chemical Technology Institute with a degree in process engineering and the Faculty of Economics of Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Mr Yevtushenkov worked for a long time at the chemical industry enterprises. He worked at the Sverdlov Plant and the Karacharovsky Plastics Plant for over ten years.
In 1993, Vladimir Yevtushenkov founded the investment company AFK Sistema. Today, the corporation is successfully developing several well-known assets in such segments as telecommunications, high technology, banking, retail, timber processing, agro-industrial complex, real estate, tourism, and medical services. The corporation has no defense assets. Today, Yevtushenkov Vladimir is not the owner of AFK Sistema. He left the Board of Directors.
The business biography of a businessman is closely connected with the charity. In 2004, Yevtushenkov Vladimir established one of the largest Russian funds.
Yevtushenkov has several industry awards.
In the photo, Yevtushenkov Vladimir Petrovich is a Russian businessman.
