Russia, Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth funds create fund to invest in Russian energy, technology

Two sovereign wealth funds have agreed to collaborate on two new platforms to invest in the Russian energy services and technology sectors.

The $10 billion Russian Direct Investment Fund, Moscow, said in a news release on its website that it would collaborate on the venture with state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco and the Public Investment Fund, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — which has $183 billion in assets according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute — on energy investments.

Potential projects will include oilfield services and related activities, "with the possibility of future localization in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East region," said the release.

"The Russian-Saudi Energy Platform will be a unique institution for the Russian direct investment market," said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, in the release. "Thanks to the team at Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, the platform will be able to help portfolio companies enter new markets. Our Saudi partners highly value the development potential of leading Russian energy companies, and the Russian energy sector can benefit from their expertise to further cooperate in the Middle East."

A separate news release on the website announced the establishment of a $1 billion Russian-Saudi platform through which the sovereign wealth funds will explore opportunities for PIF to invest alongside RDIF in Russian technology companies.

The two will focus on opportunities including e-commerce, digital infrastructure and big data. The two funds are also evaluating investment opportunities in retail, real estate, transportation and logistics infrastructure.

"RDIF and our Saudi partners believe in the potential of Russian high-tech companies, and consider the technology sector to be crucial for further development of our countries' economies. This is why we are focused on a creating a separate work stream for investments in high tech as part of our cooperation. With the established platform in place, the investment potential and our team's expertise would be leveraged to develop and implement advanced technology solutions not only in Russia and Saudi Arabia, but also in the global market," said Mr. Dmitriev in the release.

Spokesmen for RDIF, PIF and Saudi Aramco could not be reached for comment.