On Friday, January 22, Dr. Trevor Gunn, Vice President for International Relations at Medtronic and adjunct professor at Georgetown University delivered a presentation over Zoom to the CERES community about responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia and Kazakhstan from the business community specifically. The event, titled, “Covid-19 Dynamics in Russia/Central Asia: A Business Perspective”, explored the ways in which the very human and epidemiological costs of the pandemic has translated into unique economic challenges, policy decisions, and business adaptations for and by critical actors in Eurasia. Dr. Gunn also discussed how his associates in the medical technology industry have navigated these political and economic challenges for business and leveraged their resources and relationships to accelerate the production and distribution of much-needed equipment globally. At the presentation’s end, he fielded questions on these matters as well as others of interest. To watch the event in full, go to our YouTube channel. Read a summary of the event below:
Per Dr. Gunn, Russia leads the world in a number of both troubling and promising Covid-19 statistics, including new cases, mortality, vaccination levels, and testing volume and frequency. Russia has been uniquely quick to adapt and innovate its policy responses to the virus and has taken a series of commonsense measures to sustain business activity in the country even as its public health priorities incentivize it to regulate cross-border activity from exports to people. While Russia and Kazakhstan attempt to limit the damage in the short term, they have made meaningful long term policy decisions to increase state and business readiness for future outbreaks of a similar nature, from VAT exemptions for medical technology to an increase in funding for research on communicable diseases. Medtronic has navigated such conditions by increasing the supply of medical technologies, fighting against trade restrictions to increase global access to respiratory and other equipment, expanding personnel for their production and use, and strengthening ties with international organizations. These matters and others are discussed at greater length in the full video.