Talks to help Gazprom buy distressed assets

The Abu Dhabi Government is in talks to help Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, fund the purchase of “distressed” oil and gas assets across the country, the ambassador of the UAE to Moscow said yesterday.

The negotiations concerned investments from Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds into projects in Russia and other countries, said Omar Ghobash, and are the latest sign of warming ties with Russia’s energy sector following co-operation in the natural gas market.

“There are detailed and extensive negotiations over particular investments,” Mr Ghobash told Bloomberg, without disclosing more details. “They’re interested in getting funding that only sovereign wealth funds can provide.”