Azeri State Oil Fund Buys Moscow Real Estate for $133 Million
Baku, December 26 (AZERTAC). The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, known as Sofaz, bought a shopping and business center in the Russian capital, Moscow, for $133 million as it continues to diversify its reserves.
Sofaz bought 100 percent of Tverskaya, 16 OAO, which owns the Galereya Aktyor (Actors` Gallery) building in central Moscow, the Baku-based fund said today in an e-mailed statement.
The 18,000 square-meter center was built in 1882.
Sofaz announced on Dec. 17 the purchase of an office complex in London`s West End for 177 million pounds ($288 million) in its first real estate investment. On Dec. 20, the fund said it bought a retail property in Paris for 135 euros ($179 million).
The fund, established in 1999 to manage the Caspian Sea nation`s state income from oil and natural gas sales, had $33.9 billion of assets as of Dec. 1.
The State Oil Fund of the Azerbaijani Republic began investing in assets denominated in Russian rubles on October 19, 2012. At present, SOFAZ`s investment portfolio includes only short-term deposit in the Russian "Gazprombank" to the amount of 3 billion rubles ($ 100 million).
SOFAZ plans to expand its ruble portfolio to $300 million by late 2012. The list of banks, in which the deposits will be placed, is planned to be expanded to diversify the ruble portfolio.
The currency structure of SOFAZ`s investment portfolio is determined as follows: 50 percent of the assets can be placed in U.S. dollars, 40 percent - in euro and 5 percent - in pounds sterling. The remaining 5 percent of the total value of SOFAZ`s investment portfolio may be represented in the currencies of the "G7" countries, the countries with long-term ratings at least "A" (Standard and Poor`s, Fitch Ratings) and "A2" (Moody `s), Russia and Turkey.
SOFAZ assets, as of Oct. 1, 2012, increased by 11.4 percent up to $33.192.4 billion compared to early 2012 ($29.8 billion).
The main purposes of the fund are: accumulation of funds and placement of the fund`s assets abroad to minimize the negative impact on the economy, preventing a "Dutch syndrome" to ensure savings for future generations and to maintain the current socio-economic standard in the country.
The State Oil Fund is a special purpose state organization in which Azerbaijan`s revenues from implementation of oil and gas agreements are accumulated, efficiently managed and preserved for future generations.
The Oil Fund is a special purpose state organization in which Azerbaijan`s revenues from implementation of oil and gas agreements are accumulated, efficiently managed and preserved for present and future generations. Oil Fund was founded in order to manage the oil and gas incomes efficiently as well as to invest them in development of social-economically important projects and advance spheres.
The cornerstone of the philosophy behind the Oil Fund is to ensure intergenerational equality with regard to the country`s oil wealth.
Other news in this section
