S. Arabia invests $500m+ in Russia’s success

According to the company’s papers, Kingdom Holding Co. of Saudi Arabia invested more than $500 million in three significant Russian energy firms at the same time that Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.

Kingdom Holding Co reportedly made significant investments in the three major Russian energy firms Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil between the months of February and March, according to recently published regulatory documents.

The company invested 1.37 billion riyals ($365 million) and 196 million riyals ($52 million) in the worldwide depository receipts of Gazprom and Roseneft, respectively, and 410 million riyals ($109 million) in the US depository receipts of Lukoil during February and March.

According to reports, this is the first time Kingdom Holding Co., which is owned 16.9% by the national wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and its chairman, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, has disclosed the specifics of its assets.

As a result of their substantial investments in Russian energy companies, it is assumed that the Kingdom was looking for undervalued assets with the potential for growth. That approach had proven successful with its investments in other businesses that were once unknown before achieving fame in foreign markets, like Citigroup and Apple.

When Moscow began its ongoing war of Ukraine, these investments into Russian industries were made. As a result, numerous Western countries imposed harsh sanctions on the Kremlin, its affiliates, as well as Russian energy corporations and their officials.

Western countries, who have encouraged them to impose comparable measures on Russia, have expressed their confusion over Saudi Arabia’s and the Gulf States’ stance on the conflict in Ukraine. However, Riyadh and other states in the area have maintained an overt neutral position and offered to mediate the crisis.