By Rachel Savage

LONDON, (Reuters) – Russian sovereign wealth funds with Middle Eastern and Chinese origin are unlikely to make new investments in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. This is according to a Wednesday report that revealed record levels of investment by fund around the globe last year.

According to the Sovereign Wealth Funds Report, which was compiled by IE University’s Center for the Governance of Change in Spain and ICEX Invest in Spain, Russia had the sixth highest number of sovereign wealth transactions between October 2020 and December 2021.

After the United States and its allies placed harsh sanctions on Ukraine’s invasion, investors and businesses have been quick to declare that they will be leaving Russia. This triggered a series of countermeasures by Moscow.

Javier Capape was the author of the report.

“Probably,” I think, given their usual prudence in particular the Middle East. We won’t see any new agreements until that clarifies a bit.

The report stated that three times more deals were completed than in previous periods, amounting to approximately $120 billion. America was the most popular destination with 129 transactions, which is 28.8%, according to the report. India and China followed closely.

Capape stated that the Russian Direct Investment Fund, with $10 billion under its management, prominently cited their record of attracting foreign co-investments in Russian companies on its site.

According to his research, there were 14 Russian sovereign wealth investments between the months of October 2020-2021. These investments represented $2.6 million.

The RDIF partnered with Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala investment fund or China Investment Corporation to make half of the transactions. Four were done by Mubadala alone and three were by the RDIF.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which calls for diplomacy, restraint, and de-escalation to stop the conflict in Ukraine, has so far maintained a neutral position in the Gulf Arab countries’ response to the Russian crisis.

China refused to call Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a crime or condemn it. China’s foreign minister described Monday’s meeting with Russia as “rock-solid”