Russian Banks Eye Aramco IPO

Saudi Arabia and Russia forge closer links to exploit oil assets

- Vivian Nereim, Wael Mahdi & Elena Mazneva

Russian banks and a joint Russia-China investment fund are eager to participate in Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering, according to the head of a sovereign Russian investment fund.

Several banks and other groups in Russia are interested in investing in shares of Aramco, the world’s biggest oil exporter, Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive officer of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said Feb. 14 in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia plans this year to sell about 5 percent of the company in what could be a record IPO.

“Not only this, but we have a Russia-China investment fund, and through that Russia-China investment fund we see a major interest in the Aramco IPO from a number of leading Chinese institutions,” Dmitriev told reporters. “We see significant interest to invest in the Aramco IPO from Russia, from China, and we believe that this is very good for, once again, thinking jointly about oil.”