The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a sovereign wealth fund of Russia, has reportedly announced that it has finalized the main terms of the deal on Novomet, an oilfield service firm based in Russia, with its Saudi partners.
Reports cite, the announcement was exclusively made on Russia’s state-owned news channel, Rossiya-24. Several formats of investment from Saudi Arabia’s state-owned, Saudi Aramco, in Russia are now being considered, including various petrochemical & the Arctic LNG-1 project.
According to a report by Reuters, the RDIF along with Saudi Aramco as well as Japan’s renowned Mitsui & Co Ltd were conducting discussions to acquire stakes in the Arctic LNG 2 project that currently belongs to Russia’s biggest independent natural gas producer, Novatek, with the scale of the investment yet to be ascertained.
Meanwhile, the Energy Minister of Saudi Arabia and the head of Saudi Aramco’s Board of Directors, Khalid al-Falih recently stated that the company & the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia are extremely close to making an investment in Novomet & the Eurasia Drilling Company.
The CEO of RDIF, Kirill Dmitriev stated that Saudi Aramco, the biggest oil company in the world, is an extremely crucial partner of the organization. Presently, the organization has negotiated the main terms of the Novomet agreement that would see pumping equipment manufactured in Russia supplied to Saudi Aramco & other companies. Dmitriev further added that Saudi Aramco would be becoming an investor in the project and would help Russia draw in billions of dollars by allowing Russian firms to work on the project in Saudi Arabia.
According to reports, the RDIF and the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) are likely to conclude the Novomet investment deal by the end of the year.
About RDIF:
The RDIF is a renowned sovereign wealth fund in Russia with reserved capitals of approximately $10 billion currently under its management. The investment fund works alongside other leading investors of the world to make direct investments in leading and promising Russian firms.
