MOSCOW: Russia will submit a formal application to the European Union next month for approval of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund said on Thursday.

Peer-reviewed results of the vaccine would be released shortly and would demonstrate its high efficacy, fund chief Kirill Dmitriev said in an interview at the Reuters Next conference.

He said Sputnik V would be produced in seven countries. He added that regulators in nine countries are expected to approve the vaccine for domestic use this month. It has already been approved in Argentina, Belarus, Serbia and elsewhere.

Russia, which has the world's fourth-highest number of COVID-19 cases, plans to begin mass vaccinations next week.