RDIF, UAC consider joint investments in European projects
MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax) - The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the state-owned United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) are considering making strategic investments in projects in Europe, RDIF head Kirill Dmitriyev said at a working meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"We are looking at certain opportunities abroad because now there is a crisis in Europe and assets have fallen steeply in price. For example, with the United Aircraft Corporation we are considering certain targeted strategic investments in Europe that could be interesting for Russia," Dmitriyev said.
It was reported earlier that Vnesheconombank (VEB), a shareholder of UAC, is prepared to participate in a UAC project with a foreign partner to build regional aircraft.
The management company of RDIF, registered on June 1, 2011, is a wholly owned subsidiary of VEB. The Russian government intends to invest $10 billion in RDIF over five years.
Dmitriyev said that RDIF had already carried out its first transactions totaling $1 billion, of which $200 million was provided by the fund and $800 million by co-investors.
RDIF's first investment, he said, was made jointly with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the merged MICEX-RTS exchange. The second deal involved the purchase of a 26.43% stake in power company OJSC Enel OGK-5 from Inter RAO UES by a consortium of investors for $625 million, of which RDIF provided $140 million.
RDIF has also signed a preliminary agreement with a leading fund that is one of the world's largest investors in medicine. "All the money will go into development of clinics and improving the quality of medical services," Dmitriyev said.
RDIF and China Investment Corporation in October 2011 signed a letter of intent to form a joint investment fund totaling $3 billion-$4 billion, with the partners each contributing $1 billion and another $1 billion-$2 billion to be raised from Chinese institutional investors.
Dmitriyev also said at the meeting with Putin that a leading sovereign wealth fund from the Middle East has also expressed interest in investing in RDIF's deals along the lines of an automatic co-investment model.
Putin suggested that Dmitriyev invite the heads of major foreign investment funds to a meeting within the context of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.