Russian medicine gives Dubai – Kommersant

Following developers, retailers and restaurateurs, Russian operators of medical centers began to enter the UAE market. Under the new brand, a partner clinic of the Moscow chain Chaika by Polina Yumasheva will be launched there. This is already the third country where the clinic will appear, in which the CEO and founder of the company Alexander Vinokurov also invests. Participants in the Russian medical business work in the CIS countries and Georgia, but so far the UAE has not dared to enter the market due to too high competition in this country.

On the website of the Moscow network of clinics “Chaika” there was a mention of a medical center in Dubai under the brand name Kandinsky Clinic. The company confirmed to Kommersant that the center will open in September. It will be a multidisciplinary clinic for 1.2 thousand square meters. m in the business plus segment and will be located in Dubai Healthcare City, a medical free economic zone. Kandinsky Clinic has already been licensed by the Dubai Health Department.

As Kommersant found out on the HeadHunter portal, the company is also looking for staff to work in Yerevan at a clinic under the Chaika Armenia brand. Object for 315 sq. m will open in October on the territory of the republican hospital, where it will be possible to carry out diagnostics and use the laboratory, explained Taron Sardaryan, general director of “The Seagull” in Armenia.

The company does not disclose investments in these two projects. Eqiva consultant Maria Kolomentseva estimates that a clinic in the UAE will require at least $1.6 million, and $200,000-300,000 in Armenia. with an investment of $200,000, Vademecum reported. The project investors in Tbilisi were the medical director of the new clinic, Ksenia Yurkinas, the chief physician of one of the Chaika clinics, Leila Naji, and the former main owner of Chaika, ex-owner of the KIT Finance investment bank, Alexander Vinokurov. A year ago, he sold his 86.37% stake in Chaika to Oleg Deripaska’s ex-wife Polina Yumasheva, remaining the CEO of Chaika Health.

Representatives of clinics in the UAE and Armenia call themselves partners of the Moscow Chaika, without disclosing information about investors. The owners and investors of all three clinics are different, Mr. Vinokurov confirmed to Kommersant. According to him, he himself also invested “a certain amount in each of the three clinics” and all have doctors who used to work in the Moscow “Seagulls”. The decision to open partner clinics abroad was made with the advent of those who are interested in starting a business in partnership with Chaika, adds Mr. Vinokurov.

Russian chains of clinics are already represented abroad. Thus, the St. Petersburg “Mediestetik” has 20 branches in Georgia, four in the Czech Republic. The Expert Group of Companies has two diagnostic centers in Armenia, as well as joint projects in Samarkand and Nukus with the Uzbek Innova. The Berezin Medical Institute (MIBS), which specializes in high-tech diagnostics, also operates in Armenia and Uzbekistan.

So far, not a single Russian chain has been represented in the UAE. MIBS tried several years ago to enter this market, but to no avail, its chairman of the board, Arkady Stolpner, told Kommersant. According to him, competition is high in the Emirates, where such world leaders as Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic are present.

Clinics under the Chaika brand in Georgia, Armenia and the UAE can be targeted at patients who have relocated from Russia to these countries, Maria Kolomentseva believes. Mediaesthetic speaks of an increase in demand for medical services from Russian-speaking patients in Georgia over the past year.

However, it is difficult to predict the financial result of such projects, Kolomentseva continues: “If the source of investment is own funds, then fluctuations in the exchange rate will have a significant impact on the payback period.” Vladislav Sherstoboev, General Director of Expert Group of Companies, lists among the difficulties the need to adapt to national characteristics, including legislation, as well as the lack of qualified personnel. Help in the start of foreign projects, according to him, may be the presence of a local partner.

Polina Gritsenko