The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign fund, proposed to Uzbek partners to set up joint Uzbek-Russian investment fund, the First Deputy Director General of RDIF Anatoly Braverman said Friday at a round table with the participation of businesses of the two countries.

“We had a number of discussions during the meetings of the leaders of Uzbekistan and Russia regarding the possible creation of a joint fund between Uzbekistan and Russia, similar to the funds and platforms that we have set up with a number of countries in the Middle East and Asia,” he said.

Braverman clarified that such funds exist with Russian partners from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, China and Japan.

The First Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Laziz Qudratov said that Shukhrat Vafayev, director of the Uzbekistan Fund for Reconstruction and Development is present at the meeting.

“He will be happy to discuss the details of this cooperation, and we will find a mutually acceptable solution,” said the first deputy head of the MIVT.

The Uzbek Deputy PM/Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov said that the parties need to determine the priorities and areas of work of this fund. “It's still a little different than what we have with Mubadala (the UAE's sovereign wealth fund). The specifics are different there,” he said.

The Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov responded by saying that "the specifics are the same."

“The specifics are virtually the same. The fact is that each country has its own peculiarities when creating this fund. However, this is still about making income for sovereign funds,” Denis Manturov said.

In October 2018, Uzbekistan and the UAE set up a US$ 1 billion private equity fund.