Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding invests in Russian energy companies

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding invested in Russian energy groups Gazprom, Rosneft and Lukoil between Feb. 22 and March 22, it said on Twitter on Sunday. Many Western nations have imposed sanctions on Russian energy firms and their executives following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The Kingdom Holding investments fall within the company’s 12.8 billion riyal ($3.4 billion) three-year investment programme, the company added.

Kingdom Holding said it invested 1.37 billion riyals in Gazprom and 196 million riyals in Rosneft on Feb. 22, and 410 million riyals in Lukoil from Feb. 22 to March 22.

Kingdom Holding is mostly owned by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, but Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), took a 16.87% stake in the company in May. Saudi Arabia and Russia lead the OPEC+ group, an alliance formed in 2017 between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers.