Page 12 - bne Magazine Apri20

12 I Companies & Markets bne April 2020
Wave of buybacks in Russian blue chips follows drop
in market
bne IntelliNews
The head and the largest shareholder of Russian gas major Novatek, Leonid Mikhelson (24.76%), bought $7mn worth of company shares in London and RUB150mn ($2.03mn) in Moscow on the week of March 9, Vedomosti daily reported citing the information disclosed by the company. The daily estimated that the free float of the company declined to 21% as a result of the deal.
Analysts surveyed by the daily believe that Russia's richest man Mikhelson is both sending a positive signal to the market, the strategic partners such as Total, while capitalising on the share price drop due to the coronavirus epidemic and the crash of the oil market.
Novatek CEO Leonid Mikhelson and other top managers of some of Russia's largest companies are calling a bottom to the recent sell off.
Other reports claim that the CEO of Russian Sberbank, German Gref, as well as deputy heads of the bank Alexander Morozov and Staislava Kuznetsova also increased their stakes in Russia's largest lender on March 10 (from 0.003% to 0.0039%, from 0.001% to 0.0014% and from 0.0006%
to 0.00085% respectively).
Other top managers that bought out shares on the declining market include Cherkizovo agro major's Leonid Izmailov, according to Vedomosti. The banking TCS Group that had 25% of its value wiped off this month said that it will carry out a $10mn buyback in London.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) ties up with Japan to mass-produce state-of-the-art COVID-19 testing kit
bne IntelliNews
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has tied
up with Japanese scientists to create a state-of-the-art portable kit that can test for the coronavirus (COVID-19) within 30 mins and will go into mass production in April, the fund reported in a press release on March 16.
With a vaccine reportedly at least a year away, the kit will help in the fight against the spread of the virus by allowing accurate tests to be conducted anywhere and give immediate results without the need for laboratories, the RDIF said.
“The system uses a SmartAmp isothermal molecular diagnostic method, where the technology provides results with accuracy comparable to real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) analysis, while the speed of testing significantly exceeds PCR
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and does not require a stationary laboratory. This express testing system reflects successful co-operation between Russian and Japanese companies and scientists. Full scale use of the testing system is expected in April 2020,” the RDIF said in a statement.
The test was developed in co-operation with Japanese scientists and Russia’s “Vektor” virology centre. RDIF is
also promoting the technology in foreign markets, and the developed system is undergoing an accelerated certification process to obtain the necessary permits in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. At the same time, leading laboratories and clinics in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Austria confirmed the high accuracy of the test and made preliminary bids for the purchase of over 500,000 test kits.