The Rosatom State Corporation is planning a powerful expansion into the medical services market. As Vademecum has learned, Rosatom is negotiating with the Ministry of North Caucasus Affairs about the construction of a nuclear complex in the medical cluster currently being created in the Caucasian Mineral Waters. The project, estimated by experts at at least 1 billion rubles, provides for the placement of a number of facilities in the cluster zone - from a cyclotron and a PET center to a radiosurgery clinic. In addition, Rosatom is working on organizing an industrial park in Moscow, where equipment for nuclear medicine will be produced, as well as opening PET centers in the Urals and Primorye.

A source close to the Ministry of North Caucasus Affairs told Vademecum about Rosatom’s medical plans. According to him, negotiations on the corporation’s entry into the cluster are being conducted CEO United Innovation Corporation (OIC - a subsidiary of Rosatom State Corporation) Denis Cherednichenko. “We are talking about building a full-fledged nuclear complex on the basis of the cluster, including a cyclotron and a PET center, gamma cameras, up to a cyberknife. This will be the basis for the development of nuclear medicine in the region. It is expected that in the future, PET centers will be opened in the North Caucasus under a public-private partnership scheme, and a cluster-based complex will provide them with radiopharmaceuticals,” says Vademecum’s interlocutor. Representatives of Rosatom and First Deputy Minister for North Caucasus Affairs Odes Baysultanov confirmed to Vademecum: negotiations are indeed underway. “Nuclear medicine is a challenge of the 21st century,” Baysultanov subtly noted, but refused to disclose the details of cooperation before signing the agreement. Rosatom says that the corporation, represented by OIC, “supports the project of creating a center for radiation therapy and nuclear medicine within the structure of the innovative medical cluster in the North Caucasus, and is ready to take part in the implementation of the project.” Moreover, the OIC, the corporation clarified, offered the department several options for cooperation. The potential partners refused to name the volume of investments and other parameters of the North Caucasus nuclear complex. Advisor to the Director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Federal Center for the Design and Development of Nuclear Medicine Facilities” of the FMBA of Russia, Dmitry Dubinkin, believes that investments in the project could exceed 1 billion rubles. “The Positron Emission Tomography Center consists of two blocks. One block with a cyclotron and the production of radiopharmaceuticals, the other block, medical, with a scanner. One scanner costs 150–200 million rubles. 1.2 billion will cost, relatively speaking, a complete PET center with two scanners. The production unit alone costs about 700 million rubles. Associated expenses for obtaining a license, for personnel training, validation of these processes according to GMP - all this can be included in this amount, or maybe beyond it,” says Dubinkin. According to his estimates, the realistic time frame for putting the complex into operation could be five years.

If the agreement is signed, Rosatom will become one of the first investors and operators of the medical cluster project in the North Caucasus. This summer, the Ministry of Health approved the concept for the development of the cluster, and the implementation of the project itself will begin in 2017. According to Odes Baysultanov, at the first stage, a contractor will be selected to create design and estimate documentation - it is already planned to allocate 1.62 billion rubles of budget funds for these purposes. The cluster will be located on an area of ​​249 hectares in Kavminvody. The ministry is currently negotiating about joining the cluster with a number of potential operators and investors. This year, an agreement was signed with the company Impresa Pizarotti & C.S.p.A - it is expected that it will take part in the design and construction of the university center, as well as finance the launch of pharmaceutical production on the territory of the cluster.

“The state corporation Rosatom has every chance to become the No. 1 player in the nuclear medicine market. Unlike other operators in this segment, the corporation has expertise in nuclear production and creation of isotopes, its own logistics base and powerful financial resources. An important advantage is that the corporation also controls nuclear medicine. The only thing they lacked to fully enter this market was experience in selling such services and medical competencies. Therefore, cooperation with the cluster will be mutually beneficial; thanks to integration into the cluster, the corporation will be able to bring such a service to the market, and the cluster will receive a reliable Russian partner who will provide it with not only a production base, but also basic research in this area,” says Vladimir Geraskin, managing partner of DMG. “Rosatom can become a convenient and reliable partner for foreign manufacturers who are considering the possibility of localizing production in a niche specialized for Rosatom on the basis of the technology park of the cluster being created.”

Rosatom has indeed matured serious ambitions to create nuclear medicine centers in different regions of Russia, confirms a source close to the state corporation. Until now, Rosatom's expertise has been focused on the production of radiopharmaceuticals and applied research in the field of nuclear medicine – the corporation develops these competencies at several sites. For example, in 2012, the state corporation commissioned a cyclotron-radiochemical complex in Snezhinsk on the basis of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise RFNC-VNIITF named after. Academician E.I. Zababakhin." The complex was created on the basis of a cyclotron produced by another enterprise subordinate to Rosatom - JSC NIIEFA named after. D.V. Efremov." Another specialized company, LLC Center for High-Tech Diagnostics, was created in 2014 at the production site of the Moscow JSC Scientific Research Institute of Technical Physics and Automation. “In 2015, the production of radioisotopes based on fluorine-18 was launched into commercial operation, which meets the need for PET diagnostic procedures in a number of medical institutions in Moscow,” Rosatom clarifies the list of its thematic assets, adding that Moscow production allows providing the drug to up to 9 500 PET studies per year.

Representatives of the corporation say that Center for High-Tech Diagnostics LLC will enter an industrial park where high-tech equipment for industry and nuclear medicine will be produced. In addition, Rosatom, together with the Kurchatov Institute Research Center, with the support of the Moscow government, plans to create a system in the industrial park service equipment for nuclear medicine. “The experience gained can be replicated in other regions of the Russian Federation,” Rosatom is confident. It was not possible to promptly obtain a comment from the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”.

At one time, the state corporation tried to create diagnostic centers, but so far none of such requests have been implemented. The OIC website contains information about the project of a nuclear medicine center in the city of Snezhinsk. The PET center project included the creation of a diagnostic and treatment center with throughput 8,500 patients per year - this plan with a total investment of over 320 million rubles was planned to be implemented before the spring of 2015. "Even when there was Federal agency on atomic energy, it was planned to launch a cyclotron together with a nuclear medicine center, but then we only managed to get funds for production. We expected that soon after the creation of the OIC we would be provided with a PET scanner, and we would be able to launch the center, but this has not happened yet,” says a representative of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “RFNC-VNIITF named after. Academician E.I. Zababakhin." According to VM’s interlocutor, “Nuclear Medical Technologies – Snezhinsk” LLC was registered in 2015 to develop the center. According to SPARK-Interfax, now 76% of the shares of this enterprise belong to OIC, and 24% to the FSUE RFNC-VNIITF named after. Academician E.I. Zababakhin." Representatives of Rosatom say that this enterprise has now launched the production of radiopharmaceuticals, which are produced by a cyclotron-radiochemical complex.

Rosatom assures that a nuclear medicine center in the Urals will still be created: “Nuclear Medical Technologies - Snezhinsk LLC will provide services to citizens of the Russian Federation, mainly residents of the Ural Federal District (Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions), for high-precision diagnostics of oncological, cardiological and neurological diseases at the expense of the compulsory medical insurance fund of the Chelyabinsk region, as well as supply radioisotopes to the PET departments of the Ural Federal District. The center’s capabilities will allow it to receive up to 4 thousand patients a year.”

Another project being developed by the corporation is localized in Primorye. In 2015, Rosatom signed a memorandum “On the provision of treatment and diagnostic services to the population and technological cooperation within the framework of the nuclear medicine center project” with JSC Rusnano, the administration of the Primorsky Territory and the Far Eastern Federal University. It was planned that the corporations would jointly create a nuclear medicine center with a research unit in Primorye, but this project has not yet reached fruition. “During the development of the project, a number of issues were identified that require clarification, which are currently being worked on,” Rosatom says. Investment director of Rusnano Andrei Putilov notes that the temporary suspension of the project is due to administrative difficulties: “We spent a very long time agreeing on the investment structure and came to the conclusion that only under the terms of a concession agreement can this be implemented. It so happened that the Primorsky Territory even launched tenders to determine the winner of this concession, and already during this competitive procedure it became clear that the site on which we wanted to build the center was under a burden imposed by the Ministry of Defense through the Cadastral Chamber. That is, if they started building there, we would be subject to violation of the law under very serious charges, including undermining our defense capability. As of the end of October 2016, this burden still remained.” At the same time, Putilov noted that the parties themselves are not slowing down the process.

Experts interviewed by Vademecum believe that the state corporation Rosatom has chosen successful locations for creating PET centers. Its main competitor in this market, PET Technology (a portfolio company of Rusnano), currently has its network primarily in the Central Federal District.

Rosatom, pet center, pet, minkavkaz, oik

https://www.site/2016-08-19/yuristy_syna_genprokurora_trebuyut_u_oligarha_1_3_mlrd_rubley

Levitsky collided with Chaika

Lawyers of the Prosecutor General's son demand 1.3 billion rubles from the oligarch

Nikolai Levitsky (right) is engaged not only in seismic exploration. He is also co-chairman of Business Russia Kremlin.Ru

Creditors of one of the largest Russian businessmen in the field of oil services, Nikolai Levitsky, do not intend to give up the prosecution of the entrepreneur. Despite the fact that Levitsky ceased to be the general director and key shareholder of the country's main seismic exploration holding IGSS and went into secondary roles to pay off part of his debts, he did not manage to achieve mutual understanding with all his former partners. According to sources familiar with the situation, the Zvezda Resurs company, which is associated in the media with one of the sons of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Artem Chaika, is in particular interested in repaying debts. The amount of claims against Levitsky is estimated at 1.3 billion rubles. The enterprises included in the IGSS holding are located throughout the country, including in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Tyumen and Yamal. Geotech Holding, which is 100% owned by IGSS, was included in the list of 199 strategic enterprises in Russia compiled in February 2015. This strategically important business for Russia with many clients led Levitsky to major financial problems.

Debts and failure to control

The IGSS holding was created in 2010 by the Integra group of companies (75%) and the transnational service corporation Schlumberger (25%). In 2011, Geotech Holding of Nikolai Levitsky joined them. Then Integra went out of business and 13% of IGSS shares ended up in the ownership of Gennady Timchenko’s Volga Group. But he, in turn, in 2013 sold his stake to the Industrial Investors group, whose president is the former Minister of Fuel and Energy of the Russian Federation Sergei Generalov. By the end of 2015, Mr. Levitsky owned 55.92% of IGSS and served as the holding’s CEO. But by that time he already had serious problems with creditors. As the site said, the amount of debt was estimated at 15 billion rubles, of which 7.5 billion were loans from Sberbank (later it transferred the debt to its own subsidiary, Sberbank Capital), and the rest were divided between Alfa Bank, Gazprombank " and "Rosbank". To pay off these obligations, Mr. Levitsky had to give away part of IGSS. Sbercapital chose to collect debts with shares and enter the company’s management structure through Sberbank’s subsidiary, SBK Geophysics. Alpha, according to our sources, chose money, selling its share to unnamed market participants. After this, the Cypriot company Remwill Trade, whose beneficiaries are unknown, became a shareholder of the IGSS holding. As a result, the ownership structure of IGSS began to look like this: Nikolay Levitsky (25.82%), Schlumberger (12%), Industrial Investors (7.75%), Sberbank-owned SBK Geophysics (15%), Remwill Trade ltd (15% minus one share); institutional and private investors (24.4%). When the “reshaping” was over, there was a six-month lull - the new owners plunged into documents, the process of “digesting” information, studying schemes and methods of doing business began.

Secret instructions from the lawyers of a friend of the arrested Governor Gaiser

Finally, on July 13, 2016, IGSS made an official announcement about the removal of Nikolai Levitsky from the position of chief executive officer. He remained on the board of directors, but operational management of the holding passed to the former president of FESCO, Yuri Gilts. Mr. Gilts, according to federal media reports, is considered a person close to Sergei Generalov. For example, Kommersant, citing its own sources, wrote that Generalov, in fact, proposed the candidacy of Yuri Gilts to the shareholders. Owning FESCO, the President of Industrial Investors trusted Gilts leadership positions: in particular, he was vice president for economics and finance, and in 2012-2013 he headed the company, working for about six months under the new owner, the Summa group.

"Accumulated fatigue"

Disturbances in the ownership structure of IGSS took place against a generally unfavorable background for the oilfield services business. According to Kommersant, in the last two years the demand for services in this segment has fallen due to the reduction in geological exploration by oil companies associated with the fall in oil prices. The debt of IGSS itself at the end of December 2015 was about 17 billion rubles. The publication's sources in the industry suggested that Mr. Levitsky's resignation may be related to his personal desire. According to the newspaper’s interlocutor, Nikolai Levitsky suffers from “accumulated fatigue” and the inability to cope with current financial problems companies.

Meanwhile, at the end of July 2016, the international rating agency S&P Global Ratings lowered the long-term corporate credit rating of IGSS and its key division, Seismic Geotech, to “B minus” from just “B”. At the same time, Finmarket reported, the ratings of both companies were placed on the CreditWatch list (for review) with a negative outlook.

“The downgrade of IGSS's rating reflects, firstly, our expectation that IGSS's credit profile will remain weak in 2016-2017 due to unfavorable market conditions and significant interest payments, and secondly, IGSS's aggressive refinancing policy, which in our opinion, does not correspond to the “B” rating,” the agency said in a statement.

S&P Global Ratings believes that the financial situation of the holding may “only improve slightly” in 2017-2018, provided that the situation in the industry improves. “In our view, IGSS, like other peers in the industry, will generate the weakest revenue and EBITDA in 2016, given the expected decline in seismic activity, or at least a decline in the most profitable types of seismic activity - HD and 3D. Despite the fact that the company responded to deteriorating conditions in the industry by significantly reducing capital expenditures from a historical level of more than 2 billion rubles to approximately 1 billion rubles in 2016-2017, we believe that a significant reduction in debt burden in the same period is unlikely,” - S&P GR analysts believe.

Echoes of a troubled past and the shadow of Chaika

The overall difficult situation for Nikolai Levitsky is also aggravated by his past financial failures. As the site previously reported, Geotech Holding previously included two problematic companies - Intaneft CJSC and Agan-Burenie CJSC. Both of them are already bankrupt, and the amounts of financial obligations hanging on them are very serious: more than 1.3 billion rubles in Intaneft and 1.5 billion rubles in Agan-Burenia. Nikolai Levitsky assures everyone that he has no formal connection with these companies. However, creditors are convinced that this is not the case and are trying to prove that the scheme of withdrawing companies from the holding and thus “relieving” responsibility for obligations is illegal.

On July 25, 2016, the Arbitration Court of the Komi Republic accepted the claim of the bankruptcy trustee Sergei Pavlikov against Geotech Holding, as well as Nikolai Levitsky, Denis Cherednichenko and Olga Chesnokova (the latter two held senior positions in Intaneft). The manager demanded a joint recovery from all four defendants of 1.3 billion rubles into the bankruptcy estate of Intaneft as part of subsidiary liability.

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Rosatom has a new subsidiary - Rusatom Healthcare. She will promote nuclear technologies for medicine and industry in Russia and abroad. Denis Cherednichenko, CEO of the United Innovation Corporation, which forms the strategy of Rusatom Healthcare, spoke about the plans and prospects of the new company.
- You came to the United Innovation Corporation in March 2016. Was your previous job related to innovation?
- Before that, he worked as vice president of GEOTECH Holding, an oil service company. Being one of the founders, in a few years he achieved a multiple increase in the size of the business practically from scratch. At Rosatom, my task is to grow developments and projects to the scale of independent businesses that generate profit
- What have you and your team done this year?
- We have identified priority areas of activity, focused on nuclear medicine and innovative technologies for processing products. Then we formulated strategic goals, conducted an audit of developments in each area and created a product line. Having realistically assessed the factors that do not allow us to move at the desired pace, we approached the state corporation with the initiative to create single center responsibility and received support. Rusatom Healthcare consolidates enterprises that develop and produce equipment and isotopes for nuclear medicine and radiation centers. The company was founded by Atomenergoprom. Now its structure is being formed and transferred to the management of the enterprise. This is done by the OIC, which will later be included in the perimeter of the new company.
- And you, accordingly, will lead it.
- Absolutely right.
- Which enterprises will be included in the management loop?
- First of all, V/O “Isotope”, the official distributor of isotope products of “Rosatom”, two institutes - NIFHI and NIITFA. Also, Rusreactor, which coordinates the creation of a solution reactor for the production of molybdenum-99, and all OIC subsidiaries are transferred to the management of Rusatom Healthcare: YaMT-Snezhinsk - a nuclear medicine center, AMT-DV - a medical center project on Russky Island , CVTD is a project of the nuclear medicine center at the NIITFA site in Moscow.
- What products should the new company focus on?
- We are preparing a comprehensive offer, focusing on creating a line of medical equipment and equipment for the production of radionuclides and the synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals. We plan to sell it to medical institutions. We also plan to open nuclear medicine centers and ensure their operation throughout their entire life cycle. Of course, we will not engage in treatment - this is the territory of doctors. We enter the market as a technology partner and solution provider. We are currently working with a number of potential medical partners.
We also intend to create centers for radiation processing of medical products, food products, etc. In our case, the word “healthcare” is a more comprehensive concept than “healthcare”. We will focus on products and technologies to improve people's quality of life.
- Will your nuclear medicine centers be equipped with equipment produced by Rosatom enterprises?
- We will work in cooperation with world market leaders. This is common practice.

For each specific product - linear accelerators, tomographs, gamma cameras - there is a specific leader. We will independently develop products and technologies in which we have a potential advantage, and it would be more appropriate to develop the rest jointly or acquire them from partners.
We have good competence in cyclotrons. We want to create a compact cyclotron with local protection, which will be in great demand in small cities. Eat New Product- solid state generator high frequency for accelerators, we are now patenting it.

“WE ARE PLANNING TO SELL EQUIPMENT TO MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS AND CREATE NUCLEAR MEDICINE CENTERS. WE WILL NOT BE ENGAGED IN TREATMENT - THIS IS THE TERRITORY OF MEDICS. WE GO TO THE MARKET AS A TECHNOLOGICAL PARTNER"

Expert analysis showed that our solution is superior in efficiency to existing analogues. These products are worth developing - with them we can achieve success not only in the domestic but also in the world market.
- Have there already been preliminary agreements on radiation centers?
- Yes, we agreed to create a network of centers with Indian Hindustan Agro. In the project, Rusatom Healthcare will act as a technology partner, and Hindustan Agro will act as the main operator and investor. Indians are responsible for operating the centers and attracting contracts to ensure full capacity. We are for the construction of facilities and the supply of radioisotopes throughout the entire life cycle, the production and disposal of which will be carried out by Rosatom enterprises.
- Which regions are of interest to Rusatom Healthcare within this business area - radiation processing?
- Latin America: Argentina, Colombia, etc., but first of all - Brazil. It is the largest agricultural country in the world. Also Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia. Africa is also an interesting market.
- What about nuclear medicine?
- Potential markets are approximately the same. These are regions in which Rosatom already operates as a supplier of nuclear technologies or is negotiating supplies, so we can promote nuclear medicine there.
- Do you plan to completely cover Russian needs?
- Yes. The domestic market is a priority for us; among other things, it is important from the point of view of reference.
- How will you interact with the BUI?
- We develop convenient mechanisms for each specific organization of the innovation management unit. If we have a joint project with an institute that is part of JSC Science and Innovation, we together decide how to form an organizational model: what they do, what we do.
- What will change in the work of institutes that were previously in BUI, and are now moving to Rusatom Healthcare?
- They will concentrate on the core product line. NIFHI and NIITFA are being transformed into unique business units: they must not just develop, but bring their developments to the final product, and organize services for consumers.
- Share your revenue plans.
- Consolidated revenue for 2017 for all enterprises, including the isotope complex, is planned at 8 billion rubles.

How to create healthy business

Rusatom Healthcare is an example of how, based on applied scientific developments you can create a business unit. What it will sell, what it will earn money from, with whom and how to cooperate, what problems it will seek to solve - the company’s general director Denis Cherednichenko talks about all this in an interview with Ekaterina Tripoten.

A little over a year has passed since our publication great overview nuclear medicine. What has changed since then? In March 2016, the United Innovation Corporation was headed by Denis Cherednichenko.

To promote products and services of nuclear industry enterprises in the field of nuclear medicine, Rosatom decided to create new company, the brand of which is consonant with the names of the world majors in this industry - Rusatom Healthcare.

The name speaks volumes about the company's plans: RHC will promote radiation technologies not only in the Russian but also in the foreign market. Unlike other integrators, in addition to status, the company also received assets: NIFHI im. L. Ya. Karpova, NIITFA, formerly belonging to JSC "NII", V/O "Izotop" and JSC "Rusreactor". How will the interaction of companies be structured within Rusatom Healthcare, as well as with other enterprises of the state corporation? At the same time, the OIC itself has remained a “thing in itself” in recent years, and I would like to know more about the projects it was involved in.

Besides, external environment has changed. The period of late 2015 - early 2016, against the background of maintaining high exchange rates and Western sanctions, can be described as the golden age of import substitution policy. The promotion of Russian technologies was in trend. At the beginning of 2017, the situation was different: there was talk of lifting sanctions, the ruble strengthened. Rosatom is attracting foreign technology partners to develop new businesses, such as wind energy and desalination. Has all this affected the state corporation’s strategy in nuclear medicine? Does the Russian market remain a priority? Was it possible to remove purely Russian obstacles to the development of nuclear medicine in a year? Here is an approximate range of questions that we addressed to D. Cherednichenko.

From OIC to Rusatom Healthcare
What tasks were set for you at the start?
Firstly, it was necessary to determine which areas of new businesses developed in OIC are priorities for the state corporation, where it is possible to make maximum use of the developed competencies, and which products can become strategic.

The following products were selected: medical equipment, radiopharmaceuticals and irradiation technologies. For their further development, we need to decide which elements of the product under the general name “nuclear medicine” we can develop ourselves, which - in partnership, and which we should not develop yet; how to organize work from an organizational and corporate point of view.

And what should you focus on?
We must concentrate on launching a line of equipment for nuclear medicine, creating radionuclides, and moving from selling raw isotopes to producing radiopharmaceuticals as medicines.
We can sell all this directly medical institutions or supply them to nuclear medicine centers created with our participation, providing them with full life cycle. If we go into the field of medical services, then exclusively as a technology partner.

But this was decided a year ago... What new have you brought?
We have brought the concept of Rusatom Healhcare - an independent company that consolidates enterprises focused mainly on nuclear medicine, the production of equipment, isotopes, radiopharmaceuticals - to practical implementation. Formed new center responsibility.

It is necessary to work out ways of interaction between a single integrator and those enterprises for which nuclear medicine products are ancillary to their main activities. In any case, Rusatom Healhcare will determine which innovative projects in these areas can be supported and developed.

And what are these projects?
For example, we support the creation of a production line for radiopharmaceuticals in accordance with GMP standards at the NIFKhI site. L. Ya. Karpova in Obninsk.

We plan to bring the production of 99Mo at the sites of NIFHI and RIAR into compliance with GMP standards. There are promising radiopharmaceuticals based on 177Lu, 90Y, 133Xe. We are now actively raising these areas, resuming what was previously postponed or relegated to the background.

Xenon is NIFHI. Lutetium is a cooperation of several sites: at one, the raw isotope, a precursor, is made, at the other, also at NIFHI, the final radiopharmaceutical. That is, the NIFHI site will be included in the cluster for the creation of a radiopharmaceutical, a finished drug.

Biography

Cherednichenko Denis Vitalievich was born in 1977. Graduated from the Ural State Law Academy in Yekaterinburg. Has a Master of Law degree from the University of Manchester, UK.

Since March 2016 - General Director of the United Innovation Corporation, since 2017 - General Director of Rusatom Healthcare. Before joining the nuclear industry, he served as vice president of GEOTEK Holding, an oil service company.
In 2010, Gennady Timchenko’s investment fund Volga Resources acquired a stake in GEOTECH Holding.

Rosatom set D. Cherednichenko the task of developing developments and projects to the scale of independent businesses that generate profit.

Is the solution reactor in Sarov a priority?
Yes. This is a separate project to create a new production facility. The most important thing at this stage is to focus on the technology, understand what the final product will be, and make a pilot installation. According to my information, it will appear next year.

How much investment will these priority projects require?
The investment program consists of several elements. We already know that in 2017 we will receive investments in the amount of 12 million rubles for molybdenum and for bringing the technetium production line to GMP standards. For lutetia, the investment program has yet to be approved; it is estimated at 100 million rubles.

Are you planning investments for several years ahead?
Currently, we collect information from all enterprises, conduct analysis, technical audit, and so on. Therefore, it is still difficult for me to announce the exact amount. We submit projects on lutetium and xenon to the development council.

What other projects has OIC been involved in? For example, “Berkut” and “Zoloslagaki” - what are they?
Berkut is now in a separate design company. Another team is handling it. And “Ashes and Slags” is a project that was developed at OIC. Now a decision is being made on whether to spin it off as a separate project company or not.

OIC had a number of projects that it brought to its logical investment conclusion as a startup company, accelerator, and incubator. We need to move away from this activity and move into business areas. These are the same “Ashes and Slags”, as well as environmental projects, such as, for example, the construction of waste processing plants

Waste recycling is a very hot topic...
Very relevant, but impossible to cover everything. The state corporation has its own priorities, a list of 19 strategic products. There is no waste treatment there yet.

Let's get back to the projects.
There were also small projects related to nuclear medicine and radiation centers - we also separated them into separate project companies.

For example, “Sterion”, which is being implemented at the site of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “NIIP”. For this project, we found a partner who invested much more than us (200 million rubles versus 73 million) and provided the site with orders. Now we are discussing with him where to organize a second site. We are also considering how to increase the capacity of the first site, as the demand for sterilization of medical devices has proven to be far beyond our capabilities.

Why, in your opinion, did the project take off?
One of the success factors is the location of this center from a logistics point of view. Oddly enough, the site in Lytkarino turned out to be extremely in demand, because it is very conveniently located for manufacturers of medical devices - on the way to the consumer.

In general, the logistics component is extremely important for radiation centers. And when investing in their creation, you need to understand who your consumer is, where he is, where and what he is carrying, what is important to him. And even what kind of drivers he hires. Let me give you an example. Our facility is sensitive, and we need to issue passes: it is important who enters our territory and how. And our contractors often hire citizens of neighboring countries as drivers.

And such an insignificant factor, if not taken into account, may call into question the entry of vehicles into the territory. So moments that at first glance are completely unrelated to production can become key for business. After all, if a facility is loaded 24 hours a day, seven days a week - and maximum load ensures low costs - it is vitally important to ensure stable access, prompt unloading, and so on. We have already done serious work on the errors, and our conclusions will be reflected in the standard solution.

How much is this profitable business for you?
Let's just say that, provided that it is fully loaded, the payback period for investments even for one site is 2.5 years.

What is the internal rate of return?
More than 60%. The same project at different sites can give different indicators. Our task is to replicate such projects.

Standards

GMP standards, or Good Manufacturing Practice - a system of norms, rules and guidelines regarding production medicines, medical devices, diagnostic products, food and nutritional supplements.

The usual quality control procedure involves examining random samples of products. Within the framework of GMP, production parameters are assessed and laboratory testing is carried out.

The first version of GMP standards was developed in the USA in 1963.
Then came international standards, recommended by WHO for use in all countries of the world in 1969.

To confirm compliance with these rules, a GMP certificate is issued. It ensures that the company's products are manufactured under constant quality control, in accordance with their intended purpose.

Foreign market
Are there any successes already in the international arena?
We recently defended a profitable project worth 200 million rubles, which involves the creation of a network of gamma irradiation centers for agricultural products in India. We have an Indian partner - Hindustan Agro, and we have reached an agreement in principle with them.

Hindustan Agro will be the main investor and operator, responsible for the operation of the centers, attracting contracts, clients and so on - everything that is necessary to ensure maximum utilization. We allocate money in certain proportions. And we will divide the income accordingly. It is fundamentally important that we are also suppliers of this solution. We are not investors; the most important thing for us is to invest in the creation of our new product.

This is something we have not done before: the creation of a turnkey product, a large-scale irradiation center based on cobalt sources in India, in a promising region. On the one hand, this will make it possible to irradiate agricultural products according to reasonable price, on the other hand, to constantly load our capacity for the production of cobalt, which we will supply and take away for recycling throughout its entire life cycle. This is the capacity utilization of Mayak.

Please tell us more about the project.
Our Indian partner is not just an entrepreneur or a group of entrepreneurs who want to get into this business. Hindustan Agro is an analogue of agricultural cooperation from our Soviet past. This is a company that purchases products from farmers and fishermen, helps package them, pack them, accumulate them in a warehouse, and organizes refrigerators - that is, a kind of logistics hub. And it supplies fish and agricultural products government agencies, army.

Irradiation for such a player is an extremely important service: it gives him the opportunity to preserve products and dispose of a smaller amount of it after standard storage periods. Hindustan Agro is a major player, which means the center will be constantly busy. This is very important, since the cobalt source cannot be turned off. And continuous use directly affects the cost of the service.

Therefore, we are now finalizing the standard design; we want to load into the room where irradiation occurs not boxes, but pallets, and in two tiers. This way the cobalt rod will be used more efficiently than with a simple linear conveyor. This will reduce the unit cost of irradiation, which is important for such cheap products as rice, grain, and onions.

What other markets are potentially interesting to you now, besides India?
Latin America: Argentina, Colombia and other countries, but primarily Brazil. Also Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia. Africa is also an interesting market.

But I think before going to Africa, it’s worth gaining experience in implementing projects in countries where there is at least some infrastructure. In addition, at the same time, we need to solve the problem of expanding the capabilities of Mayak and our other cobalt production enterprises.

What about nuclear medicine?
Potential markets are approximately the same. These are regions in which Rosatom already operates as a supplier of nuclear technologies or is negotiating supplies, so we can promote nuclear medicine there.

Are radiation centers and nuclear medicine centers different products? Or can you offer a package?
Of course we can offer a package. Why did we use the word Healthcare and not “Healthcare”? In our understanding, this concept is more comprehensive; it covers all products aimed at improving the quality of life of people.
The main task of irradiation centers is not only the sterilization of medical devices, but also the sterilization of various types of products in order to preserve them, save people from the possible consequences of consuming low-quality, spoiled products, and protect the agricultural market.

This is the global practice. Equipment for radiation centers is produced by the same players who deal with healthcare in the world. Our competitor, IBA, manufactures cyclotrons for proton ion therapy centers, as well as comprehensive offers for them. They also produce radiochemical complexes, cyclotrons and accelerator equipment for irradiation centers. The same can be said about the companies Nordion, Sterigenics - this is one industry. Nordion was once spun off from IBA. The company produces medical and stable isotopes. It is now part of Sterigenics - a supplier comprehensive solution for irradiation centers, plus the largest network for irradiation centers.

Structure of Rusatom Healthcare

Domestic market
Do you plan to completely cover Russian needs?
Yes. The domestic market is a priority for us; among other things, it is important from the point of view of reference. Here we are also planning cooperation with other players.

For example, we are simultaneously working on the issue of equipment localization and technology development with GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthineers, Phillips Healthcare, IBA. In nuclear medicine, we may choose two partners: with one we will work, for example, on cyclotrons, and with the other, on PET/SPECT.

But just a year ago, Rosatom was going to produce key equipment itself: cyclotrons and tomographs. It was intended to enter into partnership only with medical institutions. What about the technological competencies of nuclear scientists?
Specialization is widespread in the global market. Each company chooses which segment to focus its attention on and which product to develop. Everything else is realized through cooperation with others.

The linear accelerator and diagnostic equipment segments have their own leaders. If we talk about cyclotrons, there are two of them: IBA and GE. And, for example, Siemens and Phillips closed their cyclotron programs.

Cooperation with leaders - is it the purchase of equipment, localization of production in the Russian Federation, or something else?
We mean localization and collaboration to create a new product. We have our own product, our own technologies, our own competence, and they have competence in what they are traditionally strong in: developing standards for small-scale production, approaches to certain elements of quality.

Cooperation is widespread throughout the world. For example, in one of the nuclear medicine centers, linear accelerators are supplied by Varian, PET by Phillips, some other equipment by Siemens, and so on. Each player is strong in its own segment.

What is Rosatom's strengths?
We have good competence in cyclotrons. But if we want to focus not only on the Russian market, it can be strengthened and, in cooperation with some company, we can develop a new product: a compact cyclotron with local protection. Together with our partner, we will be able to supply it to other markets. We believe that the market for compact cyclotrons is very promising.

In addition, we have a new product - a solid-state RF generator, which we made quite recently, and are now patenting it. Expert analysis has shown that our solution is superior in efficiency to existing analogues.

What will they get? Western companies from such cooperation? Why do they need Rosatom?
If we talk about compact cyclotrons for markets external to Rosatom, cooperation is needed to share risks, combine competencies and sales markets.

On Russian market significant changes have occurred. Previously, there were federal targeted programs, within the framework of which funds were allocated to medical institutions for re-equipment, but now they do not exist. The market has become competitive. Public-private partnership is required.

And it was in this market that our advantage became obvious. Unlike competitors, we act not only as a solution provider, but also as a technology partner in the project. That is, we are ready to create nuclear medicine centers together.

What is meant by public-private partnership in this area? In what capacity does the state corporation act in it?
This is, first of all, a concession (from the Latin concessio - permission, concession; an economic agreement between the state and a private entrepreneur, giving the latter the right to exploit certain conditions enterprises, minerals, land and so on. - Approx. ed.).

In this case, the state partner is the state itself. And we, together with a medical partner, act as a private investor who is building a nuclear medicine center on the basis of a concession. After we return the investment and earn something, this center can be transferred to the state.

Still about return on investment we're talking about?
Certainly. This is business. All projects that we strive to implement must be profitable. It is clear that we always remember our status as a state-owned company and executor of the roadmap for nuclear medicine in Russian Federation, but our main task is to create profitable projects. The money invested by the state corporation must return and provide a certain profitability.

Interaction
How will you interact with the innovation management unit?
We develop convenient mechanisms for each specific organization. If we have a joint project Together with the institute, which is part of JSC Science and Innovation, we decide how to form an organizational model: what they do, what we do.

For example, we agree to produce lutetium: the IRM site is the base for the production of the raw isotope, a precursor, and the radiopharmaceutical is produced at the NIFHI site. In any case, within the framework of the integrator concept, we will be responsible for the product.

At IRM it is a precursor, at NIFHI it is a radiopharmaceutical, a product with a higher added value. It turns out that the profit center for the product will be NIFHI. Which institution will voluntarily do this?
Wait, ultimately the state corporation Rosatom makes money. Rosatom's task is to organize work in such a way that we all earn money together.

The essence of product management is precisely that determining the profit center for a product with end-to-end cost is exclusively a corporate decision. Otherwise, everyone involved in creating the product will strive to get added value, and at the end we will get who knows what at a high price.

The profit center should be where the responsibility center is. Accordingly, everyone else forms a cooperation and, within the framework of this cooperation, earns what they can, taking into account the overall contribution.

Logical. But then a number of enterprises need to change their KPIs.
Naturally, they must change certain KPIs. All this will be taken into account.

Isotope V/O remains an integrator for isotope products?
Actually yes. Izotop will continue to provide sales of isotopes, as well as radiopharmaceuticals. Ideally, this should be a kind of single window for the sale of all isotope products that are produced in the state corporation, both domestically and internationally. foreign market. We have yet to get there.

What will change in the work of institutes that were previously in BUI, and are now moving to Rusatom Healthcare?
They will focus on a core product line. NIFHI and NIITFA are being transformed into unique business units: they must not just develop, but bring their developments to the final product and organize services.

What about other areas of NIFHI and NIITFA? For example, NIITFA had a strong unit on superconductors.
Ideologically, this block should move to the center of responsibility, which will be responsible for superconductors.

How can this be organized legally?
For example, through cooperation. We will implement the project with IRM, although IRM is not included in our perimeter. There is a specific center of responsibility for a specific product, there are enterprises, sites, and elements that are basic for it, but at the same time, all other enterprises in the industry are also included in the cooperation.

For example, I am faced with the task of building cooperation with TVEL enterprises - there is a whole layer of developments there: on isotope topics - electrochemical protection, a promising direction on titanium prostheses.

At the same time, if we have any competence at the NIITFA site, nothing prevents us from entering into cooperation as a co-executor where there is our own center of responsibility. Then certain divisions of NIITFA can perform this work on request.

One of the goals of the Horizon program is to reduce the number of levels of management. Rusatom Healthcare has a rather complex corporate structure. Are you planning any changes in the future?
Yes, we will strive to reduce the number of legal entities. How is still to be decided. Ideally we should come to one legal entity. Let's see if this is possible. At first glance, there are obstacles: licensing issues, the availability of reactors, and so on. It is possible that two reactors in one legal entity should not be mixed.

Challenges
Please tell us about the nuclear medicine project in Snezhinsk. At VNIITF they said that it had stalled.
The project initially envisaged the creation of a diagnostic center based on PET-CT with the production of its own fluorodeoxyglucose. What have we managed to do?

We launched the production of fluorodeoxyglucose and received the necessary permits. But due to the specifics of our legislation, we can supply the drug exclusively within one legal entity. To fit into this framework, we organized cooperation with the Chelyabinsk Oncology Center.

The postponement of the production of radiopharmaceuticals in Snezhinsk was primarily due to the need to obtain additional licenses and permits for the medical service itself.

Are you no longer planning to provide diagnostic services in Snezhinsk itself?
Not yet. Snezhinsk is an ideal site for stable operation of a cyclotron producing high-quality fluorodeoxyglucose, which can be supplied to Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg and other nearby regions.

This is exactly the concept we are now trying to substantiate; it is fully consistent with the policy of the Ministry of Health aimed at forming clusters. There is no point in installing a cyclotron in each region at each center; this is ineffective, because none of them will reach full power. It makes sense to install one cyclotron for, say, five PETs in neighboring regions: for example, fluorodeoxyglucose from the Yaroslavl region can be supplied to both the Ivanovo and Kostroma regions.

We are negotiating with PET Technology in Yekaterinburg. When stable production of the isotope begins at the Snezhinsk cyclotron, we will be able to supply the drug to them.

Don't you want to change the legislation?
We want. Moreover, this is not just our desire, it is the need of doctors. Doctors, including famous ones, come to us.

A whole range of regulations must be developed, and this is one of the tasks of Rusatom Healthcare - to promote new trends; This is world practice.

Which for example?
There is a whole direction - radiopharmaceuticals, they are widespread in the USA, Great Britain, France, and a number of other countries. It is difficult to do this here, including due to existing legislation.

At the same time, radiopharmacy, especially if it is separated from medical services, allows medical institutions to develop medical diagnostics and therapy much faster - they do not have to think about where to get the drug. Medical institutions that already have a cyclotron can produce ultra-short-lived isotopes to conduct research, and buy fluorine at a radiopharmacy.

What else hinders the development of nuclear medicine in the country?
Difficulties in obtaining quotas at the compulsory medical insurance level. Needs to be changed medical standards, approaches to the most medical service and diagnostics, possibly, principles of insurance, including voluntary.

After all, the list of services that is recorded in the VHI list is compiled by corporations and companies that order these services. But this does not take into account the opinion of the employee himself. If he had the opportunity to pay extra for any service or change the set of services, this would allow the development of high-tech diagnostics. But he doesn’t have such an opportunity. We are discussing this with insurance companies. For now we are talking about pilot projects, about those clients who are ready to pay for themselves. But we will also work with insurance companies, insurance medicine, the Ministry of Health, the state, funds - the state is interested in this.

There was a recent discussion about the need to move from determining the list of services that are paid for under the policy directly to the diagnostic result, and using this criterion to determine the quality of the service. This is one of the trends that will lead to a new format of interaction.

The next important area is the use of radiopharmaceuticals for children. Currently, the use of radiopharmaceuticals for therapy is difficult. This is a problem with standards, regulations, instructions, and clinical trials. That is, manufacturers, medical institutions and government institutions need to join forces. In the USSR, this problem was less acute; there were standards. Now this path must be taken again.

Brothers Vitaly and Denis Cherednichenko seven years ago became co-owners of an abandoned mussel plantation on the White Sea. Five years later, they received their first harvest and brought 800 kilograms of live mussels to St. Petersburg in the hope of selling them to restaurants. We managed to sell only 50 kilograms, and only through friends. The remaining 750 had to be thrown away, since at that time not a single restaurateur in the city was interested in buying live seafood. Everyone had enough of frozen analogues from China. Then the brothers realized that before selling their goods, they would first have to instill in St. Petersburg the culture of consuming fresh seafood. Now the Elmar company already cooperates with 120 restaurants in St. Petersburg and plans to enter retail chains.

Elmar company

Sphere: sale of fresh seafood

sales per year: 70 tons of seafood

Date of foundation: year 2012

Denis and Vitaly Cherednichenko
founders of the Elmar company
and co-owners of the plantation
"Northern mussel"

How it was before us

We didn’t just take part of the live seafood market, we created it from scratch. When we appeared, the chefs of St. Petersburg restaurants mainly cooked from frozen seafood and occasionally from chilled seafood. The only thing that was sold “live” were French oysters, for which fashion had been established in Russia for a long time. But there were no serious sales of live mussels, vongole, spizula or scallops. Freezing and making preserves is, of course, cheaper and easier, but this greatly changes the quality and taste of the product.

China and Norway deal with huge volumes. On their plantations, special machines are used to collect mussels; their operating principle is similar to a vacuum cleaner - they “suck in” hundreds of kilograms of mussels per minute. Such farms simply could not cope with the sales of 500 tons of live mussels, so in order to preserve them, they process them. Some prepare preserves, others use freezing, and others use deep cooling, during which the mussel enters suspended animation and remains fresh for 10–12 days. Before freezing, mussels are first steamed, opened and treated with special substances that change their taste.

Where did we start?

Seven years ago, by chance, we managed to become co-owners of the Karelrybflot enterprise, which went bankrupt in the post-Soviet years. One of his assets was an abandoned mussel farm on a small island in the White Sea. IN Soviet time On this plantation, scientists bred and studied mussels, but then the government recognized this direction as unpromising, and the water area was left to the mercy of fate. For several years, local residents tried to trade the remaining mussels, but then this too faded away. When we got there, there were old ruined huts and hectares of wild mussels, which no one was watching. The plantation is located 70 km from the nearest settlement.

The first few years after the purchase we were just trying to figure out what we had in our hands. Restoring the plantation was something of a hobby for us. We hired people, installed new collectors, and watched how the mussel behaved, grew and multiplied. At the same time, we tried to test the market and understand how it could be used. At first they thought of using it for medical purposes. Scientists from several research institutes studying the White Sea were invited. The result of our cooperation was the biologically active additive “Tonimid” - a strong immunomodulator made on the basis of the hydrolysis of mussels. Two years ago we received our first serious harvest - our mussels reached a size of 4 centimeters, which means they could be sold. We collected 800 kilograms of product and, confident in our own success, took them to St. Petersburg.

How to grow a mussel

The mussel itself does not require special care; problems begin when you take it out of the water. On the plantation it grows in clusters on collector ropes suspended in the water column. If it falls to the bottom, it is eaten by a starfish. The mussel reproduces at a water temperature of 12–13 degrees. Due to the fact that the White Sea is very cold, our mussel grows within four years, while the mussels of the Black Sea and Norway require only two years due to warm water. If you remove a mussel from salt water, it will live at a temperature of t - 2-5 ° C for no more than five days. Therefore, for its storage and transportation, we use special aqua systems in which the temperature and composition of the water are identical to the water of the White Sea. This way they can live for quite a significant period.

To deliver the mussel to the city, we had to invest very seriously in logistics: build our own steamship with special holds, buy cars with refrigerators, develop and install industrial aqua systems in St. Petersburg. It took us a long time to fine-tune this process, to understand why sometimes, despite all the conditions, the mussel did not survive. Every living organism has periods when it is weakened. For example, during the breeding season, the mussel cannot tolerate transportation. There are several months of the year when it is physically impossible to deliver live mussels to the city.

Fight for survival

When we brought our first 800 kilograms of mussels to St. Petersburg, it turned out that no one needed them. We called 300 restaurants, and everywhere they answered us the same thing: “We buy frozen, nothing goes missing, and no one ever asks us for live mussels.” There was no market, we had to create it. We spent the entire first year of work in St. Petersburg introducing local chefs to the benefits of live seafood. We assembled our own team of chefs, who first taught themselves how to cook mussels, developed recipes, and then began showing master classes to St. Petersburg chefs. We came up with this when we realized what was actually stopping good restaurant chefs from buying our product - they just didn't know how to cook with live seafood, they'd never done it! So we had to unobtrusively tell them about it.

The brasserie was the first to fall in love with us; they realized that mussels could be a good snack for beer. On this moment We already cooperate with 120 restaurants. It’s convenient for restaurants that we have our own aqua system. They don't have to order a lot and throw away half of it. We can bring them 20 kilograms every day, which they sell out in a day. Prices depend on volumes. Now we sell about 5 tons of seafood per month. Among them are not only our mussels, but also seafood from the Far East from our partners.

How to support life in crab for twelve o'clock flight? Gradually we learned, and now we have almost there are no losses along the way

Typically, restaurants are not particularly interested in telling customers where they get their food from, often changing suppliers and manipulating prices. We wanted to teach restaurants to respect us. To do this, we began to promote the “White Sea Mussels” brand, asking that this name be indicated on the menu so that restaurant guests knew that they were now eating our mussels.

Partners

When we started collaborating with restaurants, we realized that it was difficult to sell only mussels to them - then too few people knew and ate it. We needed other seafood that we could offer in conjunction with ours. Then we flew to Far East and found several local companies that have fishing rights. Logistics problems had to be solved again: how to keep the crab alive during a twelve-hour flight? Gradually we learned, and now we hardly have any losses along the way. Now, in terms of popularity among restaurants, mussels are no longer inferior to oysters, followed by vongole, scallop and crab.

Plans

Having learned to work with restaurants, we plan to enter Retail Stores. We are already selling goods through LavkaLavka, and we have been negotiating with ABC of Taste for a year now. The problem with selling to individuals is the same as with chefs. Customers may enjoy watching the crabs move around in a tank placed in the middle of the sales floor, but they are hesitant to buy them because they have no idea how to cook them. That's why we started holding master classes for ordinary people, at various fairs, fish markets, and shops.

We are trying to instill in St. Petersburg residents the culture of eating live seafood, as well as change the established opinion that it is expensive. 400 rubles per kilogram of mussels is not much more than what you pay for meat. But it is healthier and tastier. For now, Elmar looks more like patronage than business. We are pouring new resources into it, updating production, building relationships with clients, but it is too early for us to think about net profit.

Photos: Dima Tsyrenshchikov,