Riyadh – Mubasher: Russian banks along with a joint Russia-China investment fund are intending to participate in Saudi Aramco’s planned initial public offering (IPO), the head of a sovereign Russian investment fund said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia stated earlier that it was planning to offer a 5% stake in the state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co, or Saudi Aramco, during 2018.

“Several banks and other groups in Russia are interested in investing in shares of Aramco,” Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev told Bloomberg.

Aramco is set to announce a partnership in liquefied natural gas (LNG) with a Russian company, Dmitriev further revealed.

“The RDIF and Aramco plan in the near future to set up a platform for investments in Russia’s largest independent driller, while a joint $1 billion energy fund formed by both entities expects to close its first deals in the next three months,” the top official added.