Special to WorldTribune.com

MOSCOW — Qatar is planning a major investment in Russia.

A senior official said Qatar would become the latest Gulf Cooperation Council state to invest in Russia.

The official said the Qatar Investment Authority has allocated $2 billion for joint ventures in Russia.

“We are announcing three new partnerships, including one with the
sovereign fund of Qatar which is allocating $2 billion to invest jointly
with the Russian Direct Investment Fund, and also two other new
partnerships,” Russian Direct Investment Fund chief executive officer Kirill Dmitriev said.

The announcement was made on May 23 during a meeting that included
Russian President Vladimir Putin and foreign investors. No other details
were reported.

RDIF has so far attracted investments from at least two GCC states,
Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. One of the UAE investors was the
state-owned Mubadala, responsible for developing Abu Dhabi’s defense
industry.

“In our platforms — we raised $10 billion from our partners — around
90 percent came from Asia and the Middle East,” Dmitriev said. “Those
longer-term investors take a longer-term view on Russia. They see some
turbulence, but realize it is impossible to isolate the sixth-largest
economy in the world.”

  Kirill Dmitriev, Qatar joins other Gulf Arab states planning investments in Russia, Russian Direct Investment Fund, Vladimir Putin