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Saudi Arabia, Italy Sign 21 Agreements, MoUs during Investment Forum

Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih shakes hands with Italian Minister of Industry. (Italian AKI Agency)
Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih shakes hands with Italian Minister of Industry. (Italian AKI Agency)
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Saudi Arabia, Italy Sign 21 Agreements, MoUs during Investment Forum

Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih shakes hands with Italian Minister of Industry. (Italian AKI Agency)
Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih shakes hands with Italian Minister of Industry. (Italian AKI Agency)

Saudi Arabia and Italy signed 21 agreements and memorandums of understanding during an investment forum held in Milan, in a step aimed at developing trade and investment relations between them.

The event saw the signing of an MoU between Saudi ACWA Power and the Italian energy giant Eni for a green hydrogen project in the Middle East and Africa.

Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih said Italy will be a long-term partner of Saudi Arabia in the energy and sustainability sectors.

He told the forum that the Kingdom was launching an investment in important raw materials, and planning to strengthen efforts with Italy, pointing to one of the largest global hydrogen projects in the city of NEOM.

The Saudi-Italian Investment Forum was organized jointly by the Saudi Ministry of Investment and the Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy.

The forum was attended by al-Falih and the Italian Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, in the presence of several officials from both countries and representatives from the governmental and private sectors.

The MoUs and agreements signed during the event covered the sectors of energy, clean energy, healthcare, real estate, waste management, technology, and manufacturing.

They are aimed at promoting commercial cooperation, fostering trade, industrial, and investment ties, and facilitating the development of cross-sectoral relations between the two countries.

The forum also discussed investment opportunities, in light of Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation, as well as a set of initiatives and programs within its Vision 2030.

In remarks on the occasion, Urso said Rome was discussing with Riyadh a potential investment in its “Made in Italy” fund, which aims to strengthen supply chains of strategic importance. He also hinted at potential merger and acquisition deals in the energy sector between the two countries.

Bilateral trade between Saudi Arabia and Italy in 2022 is estimated at $11 billion.

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US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
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US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank on Thursday, the Treasury Department said, as President Joe Biden steps up actions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine before he leaves office in January.
The move, which wields the department's most powerful sanctions tool, effectively kicks Gazprombank out of the US banking system, bans its trade with Americans and freezes its US assets, Reuters reported.
Gazprombank is one of Russia's largest banks and is partially owned by Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom. Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has been urging the US to impose more sanctions on the bank, which receives payments for natural gas from Gazprom's customers in Europe.
The fresh sanctions come days after the Biden administration allowed Kyiv to use US ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. On Tuesday, Ukraine fired the weapons, the longest range missiles Washington has supplied for such attacks on Russia, on the war's 1,000th day.
The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 50 small-to-medium Russian banks to curtail the country's connections to the international financial system and prevent it from abusing it to pay for technology and equipment needed for the war. It warned that foreign financial institutions that maintain correspondent relationships with the targeted banks "entails significant sanctions risk."
"This sweeping action will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade US sanctions and fund and equip its military," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. "We will continue to take decisive steps against any financial channels Russia uses to support its illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine."
Gazprombank said Washington's latest move would not affect its operations. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Along with the sanctions, Treasury also issued two new general licenses authorizing US entities to wind down transactions involving Gazprombank, among other financial institutions, and to take steps to divest from debt or equity issued by Gazprombank.
Gazprombank is a conduit for Russia to purchase military materiel in its war against Ukraine, the Treasury said. The Russian government also uses the bank to pay its soldiers, including for combat bonuses, and to compensate the families of its soldiers killed in the war.
The administration believes the new sanctions improve Ukraine's position on the battlefield and ability to achieve a just peace, a source familiar with the matter said.
COLLATERAL IMPACT
While Gazprombank has been on the administration's radar for years, it has been seen as a last resort because of its focus on energy and the desire to avoid collateral impact on Europe, a Washington-based trade lawyer said.
"I think that the current administration is trying to put as much pressure and add as many sanctions as possible prior to January 20th to make it harder for the next administration to unwind," said the lawyer, Douglas Jacobson.
Officials in Slovakia and Hungary said they were studying the impacts of the new US sanctions.
Trump would have the power to remove the sanctions, which were imposed under an executive order by Biden, if he wants to take a different stance, Jacobson said.
After Russia's invasion in 2022, the Treasury placed debt and equity restrictions on 13 Russian firms, including Gazprombank, Sberbank and the Russian Agricultural Bank.
The US Treasury has also worked to provide Ukraine with funds from windfall proceeds of frozen Russian assets.