President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon Mr Dmitriev. How is your work going?
Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev: Mr President, I want to brief you on our results. Since we began our work, we have already approved deals with our partners worth a total of 720 billion rubles. Over just these last four months, we have approved deals worth 320 billion rubles.
We are continuing our active investment work and the fund is making positive gains, despite the fall in a number of market indexes. Working jointly with our partners, we have raised $25 billion from our leading partners, 90 percent of which are funds in Asia and the Middle East.
We are now focusing particularly on agriculture. We see very good prospects in this sector. We have plans for active investment in this sector and recently announced a deal with CP Group, which you met with. This is a Thai group that has made one of the biggest deals in the poultry sector with around $700 million in investment in poultry processing operations in Leningrad Region. This kind of deal makes us see great potential in the agriculture sector.
Vladimir Putin: This is very good. Are you continuing your active work in Asia?
Kirill Dmitriev: Yes, we are.
Vladimir Putin: So, despite the political restrictions that exist, your work continues.
Kirill Dmitriev: Certainly. In Ufa, we signed agreements with all of the BRICS countries on investing in infrastructure together with the BRICS group’s main funds, including with the Silk Road Fund.
The Silk Road Fund is becoming one of our main partners in China. Our partners in Asia very much believe in the joint projects on offer, and we are working very actively with them and with good result.
Vladimir Putin: Good.
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