Kyiv is not going to buy the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, the head of Medical Procurement of Ukraine, a state enterprise, said.

"So far there is no rational basis for ordering the Russian product in a segment that offers cheaper, more effective and reliable vaccines," Arsen Zhumadilov wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

There is a lot of competition in the segment for vector-based vaccines, of which the Russian candidate is one, he said. "Globally, 18 manufacturers are at some stage of development. Among them are authoritative players on the international pharmaceutical market such as AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and others. AstraZeneca already has the license for use in a number of countries, including Great Britain," the director said.

"To rely on a state Russian company during a Russian armed aggression against Ukraine on the question of providing epidemic safety for the country is being ignorant to say the least."

On January 2 it was reported that a Kharkiv-based pharmaceutical firm, Biolik, had applied for the state registration of Sputnik V. On the same day, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said that the RDIF could begin clinical trials on the AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines in Ukraine.

"We are fully ready to transfer our technologies for production in Ukraine, to start clinical trials of the combined AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccine," Dmitriev said in an interview with Rossiya 1 (VGTRK) television channel.

Clinical trials of the Sputnik V were held or continue in Belarus, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, India, and several other countries.