MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has signed agreements worth more than $2 billion with Saudi partners during the visit of the delegation from Saudi Arabia to Moscow, the fund's CEO, Kirill Dmitriev, told Sputnik on Saturday.
"Within the framework of this visit, the amount of agreements concluded by the RDIF exceeded $2 billion, taking into account the fact that the RDIF attracts on each ruble of its own funds an average of 9 rubles from co-investors, partners and banks, this sum may increase several-fold," Dmitriev said.
Dmitriev said that RDIF was studying a number of opportunities for such Russian companies as Sibur.
"The [Saudi] Vision 2030 program assumes localization of production in Saudi Arabia at a level of 70 percent, and we are ready to work with Russian companies and Saudi partners in this direction, including within the established technological and energy platforms," the fund's head noted.
He also added that the fund actively cooperated with the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA). During the Russian-Saudi investment forum, SAGIA, as a regulator, issued licenses for work in Saudi Arabia to a number of Russian companies.
RDIF, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco have previously announced the creation of a platform for investment in the energy sector. In addition, RDIF and PIF announced the establishment of a Russian-Saudi platform for investment in the high-tech sector in the amount of $1 billion.
On Wednesday, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud arrived in Moscow for the first ever visit in the history of Russian-Saudi relations. On Thursday, his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin were held in the Kremlin. Following the talks, the countries signed 14 documents. On Friday, the Saudi King met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
