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Economics

Putin prefers Aramco to Trump’s sword dance

Hardly 10 months after honoring the visiting US president, the Saudis are open to a Russian-Chinese consortium investing in the upcoming Aramco IPO*

 

By M. K. Bhadrakumar

February 16, 2018

In the slideshow that is Middle Eastern politics, the series of still images seldom add up to make an enduring narrative. And the probability is high that when an indelible image appears, it might go unnoticed – such as Russia and Saudi Arabia wrapping up huge energy deals on Wednesday underscoring a new narrative in regional and international security.

Originally published by Asia Times here

The ebb and flow of events in Syria – Turkey’s campaign in Afrin and its threat to administer an “Ottoman slap” to the United States, and the shooting down of an Israeli F-16 jet – hogged the attention. But something of far greater importance was unfolding in Riyadh, as Saudi and Russian officials met to seal major deals marking a historic challenge to the US dominance in the Persian Gulf region.

The big news is the Russian offer to the Saudi authorities to invest directly in the upcoming Aramco initial public offering – and the Saudis acknowledging the offer. Even bigger news, surely, is that Moscow is putting together a Russian-Chinese consortium of joint investment funds plus several major Russian banks to be part of the Aramco IPO.

Continue reading this pathbreaking article here


Photo
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak attend a news conference at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh on February 14, 2018.
Photo: Reuters / Faisal Al Nasser

* IPO =
Initial public offering or stock market launch is a type of public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also retail investors

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EconomicsGlobalisation - NationalismImagined/RealMiddle East conflict formationRussia international relationsSaudi Arabia and Gulf StatesUS Empire declineWorld Order - Futures

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