AFP

The Saudi Kingdom Holding Company invested about $ 530 million in Russian oil companies two days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February, according to what the group owned by billionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal announced. The Gulf company bought shares in Russian gas giant Gazprom, oil group Rosneft and Lukoil on February 22, two days before Russia began the war on Ukraine. The company stated in a statement on its investment programs directed to the Saudi Stock Exchange on Sunday evening that it had bought shares in Gazprom with 1,369 billion riyals ($365.1 million), Rosneft with 195.7 million riyals ($52.2 million) and Lukoil with 409.864 million riyals. ($109.2 million). Investments in Gazprom and Rosneft were made on February 22, while purchases in Lukoil took place between this date and March 22. The United States, the European Union and Western countries imposed sanctions on a number of Russian energy companies and their executives in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Saudi Arabia, one of the world's largest oil producers and exporters, has rejected US and Western pressures to increase production in order to reduce oil prices, which have risen dramatically since the start of the war in Ukraine. Together with Russia, it leads the "OPEC Plus" alliance, which includes the group of countries affiliated with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and outside it, and controls production quantities in the market. The Saudi Kingdom Holding Company is one of the largest investment companies in the world and its portfolio includes investments in hotel management, real estate, hotel real estate, media, publishing, entertainment, networking and the transportation sector. Notable among them are investments in Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Movenpick, Twitter, Careem and Lyft ride-sharing companies, and Citigroup. Dubbed the "Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia", the prince struggled to regain his financial and political standing in the kingdom after he was detained at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel with about 300 prominent Saudi figures as part of an anti-corruption campaign in 2017. More German, French, Italian, Romansh, English: in what language do the Swiss talk to each other? Despite the tendency of some to simplify, the cultural landscape in the country remains intertwined, linguistically intertwined and constantly changing. He was released in January 2018 after three months and it was announced at the time that this ordeal was just a misunderstanding that was resolved, amid reports that he had concluded an undisclosed financial settlement with the authorities. Last May, the Saudi group sold 16.87 percent of its total shares in a deal estimated at 5.7 billion riyals ($1.52 billion) to the Public Investment Fund led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This giant fund is leading Saudi Arabia's efforts to diversify the economy by supporting the entertainment, sports, tourism and other sectors, with the aim of stopping the historical dependence on oil