Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding invests in top Russian energy companies
The three Russian energy companies
Amid the Russia-Ukraine war and the western world attempting to push Kremlin into the corner by imposing sanctions, the West Asian country of Saudi Arabia is busy playing its own game. Reportedly, Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding on Sunday announced that it had invested in top Russian energy companies viz. Gazprom, Lukoil and Rosneft.
Kingdom Holding took to Twitter to share the news of its $3.4 billion investment program. The company statedthat it had completed the investment in Russian companies within a one-month period from February to March, earlier this year.
This development comes on the back of Saudi Arabia joining the growing list of countries importing cheap Russian oil despite Western sanctions. As reported by WION, the Gulf country imported 647,000 tonnes of Russian oil in the second quarter, i.e., from April to June. In the same period a year ago, the Kingdom imported 320,000 tonnes of oil.
Experts are of the view that Russian oil is far too cheap for Saudi Arabia to resist the temptation of buying it. The investment in top Russian energy companies only makes further sense as the war continues to linger.
It is pertinent to note that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal owns the majority of shares in Kingdom Holding. However, earlier this year in May, Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund acquired a 16.87 per cent stake in the company.
Ever since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, the western world has imposed myriad sanctions on Russian companies to hurt Moscow financially. However, the Western sanctions have cleverly circumventedany major oil and energy companies.
WATCH:Saudi Arabia doubles oil imports from Russia this year
Gazprom, which maintains the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, responsible for more than 40 per cent of Europe's energy needs has been left out of the sanctions list. Moreover, when the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was shut down, citing maintenance, the Russian company on multiple occasions issued a warning to Europe that supplies could be culled for good. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has refused to increase oil output, despite its Western allies' pleading.
(With inputs from agencies)
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