Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak plans to meet his Saudi counterpart Khalid al-Falih at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland next week, RIA news agency cited the Russian minister as saying on Thursday.
The WEF’s annual gathering of political and business leaders is due to take place from Jan. 23 to 26 in the Swiss ski resort.
The meeting comes after an agreement was reached last month between Saudi-led OPEC and non-OPEC countries including Russia on reducing oil production to boost prices. Russia committed to 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) out of the total 1.2 million bpd reduction.
Also on Thursday, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, the RDIF, said it is planning to multiply the number of investment deals with Saudi Arabia “by several times” in 2019.
The announcement comes as the RDIF leads the first Russian business mission of the year to the kingdom, bringing along more than 20 majority stakeholders and senior managers of companies including petrochemicals holding Sibur, submersible pump manufacturer Novomet and fertilizer producer Phosagro.
“RDIF is delighted that the Russia-Saudi partnership takes no break as we enter the new year with ambitious plans for new investment deals,” said RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev.
RDIF currently has a $10 billion investment partnership with Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), with more than $2 billion already invested in projects including St Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport and a toll road bypassing Moscow’s Kutuzovsky Prospekt, one of the city’s busiest avenues.
“We are looking forward to new deals already this year this year in such sectors as oil field services, petrochemicals and gas chemicals,” said Khalid Al-Falih.
