Germany’s Fresenius has terminated a joint venture in Russia hit by the political uncertainty that have intensified since the Ukraine crisis began earlier this year.
Fresenius unit Kabi and partners Sistema JSFC and Zenitco Finance Management have “mutually agreed to terminate” their JV agreement announced in April 2014. The intention was to combine Kabi’s Russian and Commonwealth of Independent States business with their partners’ subsidiary CJSC Binnopharm.
However, “changing political and regulatory circumstances in the region have made the closing of the JV more challenging than anticipated,” Fresenius said. The European Union and the USA have imposed economic sanctions on Russia, with the West accusing the country of providing pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine with military support, an accusation denied by the Putin government.
A number of other drugmakers have seen their businesses in the region suffer.
