Head of RDIF appointed special presidential envoy for investment cooperation with the West

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), has been appointed special presidential representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries. This is stated in the press release of the fund received by Izvestia on February 23.

The corresponding decree of Vladimir Putin is published on the Kremlin website.

At the same time Dmitriev will simultaneously retain his current position as head of RDIF.

"In his new capacity, Kirill Dmitriev will continue to develop investment and economic cooperation both with the countries of the Global South and with Western states, including the United States," the RDIF press service reported.

It also added that under Dmitriev's leadership RDIF has achieved significant results for the Russian economy and created a global network of international partnerships with leading foreign investment and financial institutions.

In particular, under Dmitriev's leadership, RDIF has attracted more than €36 billion of foreign capital into the Russian economy by building a number of long-term strategic partnerships, including €3.4 billion under the automatic co-investment program.

"An important part of RDIF's work is investing in the development of advanced technologies, primarily artificial intelligence (AI). RDIF has attracted more than 150 billion rubles from international partners from friendly countries to invest in the development of AI in Russia," the press release said.

In addition, during the coronavirus pandemic, RDIF played a crucial role in creating and financing the "test-drug-vaccine" triad against the coronavirus. As a result, Russia's Sputnik V vaccine was approved in 71 countries with a total population of more than four billion people, while the single-component Sputnik Lite vaccine was approved in more than 30 countries.

RDIF multiplied state funds invested in the fund by almost six times

The President discussed with the head of the organization the development of AI, projects in the pharmaceutical industry and partnership with China

On February 18, Dmitriev, along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, was a participant in the talks in Riyadh between the United States and Russia on the settlement in Ukraine. During the meeting, the RDIF CEO said that American business has lost more than $300 billion due to the withdrawal from the Russian market and therefore it is important for Washington to establish economic contacts with Moscow. The RDIF CEO emphasized that the Russian market is very attractive, and the restoration of dialog will help solve a large number of global tasks and problems.