MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. Russia and Saudi Arabia can finalize several joint projects by the end of 2018, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview aired by the Rossiya-24 TV news channel on Tuesday.

"There is a number of good projects, particularly involving Saudi Aramco, Sibur, Novatek. The companies are currently holding negotiations. As soon as they reach the final stage and it becomes clear that an agreement has been reached it will be possible to pay a visit to Saudi Arabia. Hopefully, that will happen this year," he said.

Russia and Saudi Arabia signed a roadmap on midterm trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation in October 2017.

Chief Executive Officer of Russia’s gas producer Novatek Leonid Mikhelson held talks with Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week forum on October 4. Novatek and Saudi Aramco (al-Falih heads the board of directors of the state-run company - TASS) are holding negotiations on joining the Arctic LNG 2 project. Speaking at Russian Energy Week’s plenary session, al-Falih said about competitive advantages of the Russian gas, noting that the talks on the Yamal project are in an advanced stage.

In October 2017, Russian Direct Investment Fund, Saudi Aramco and Sibur signed a memorandum of understanding on possible cooperation in petrochemicals and petrochemical marketing in Russia and Saudi Arabia. Currently, the RDIF is negotiating investment in construction of a rubber plant in Saudi Arabia that Sibur plans to build together with Saudi Aramco, and that will be one of the first Russian plants in Saudi Arabia. According to Dmitriev, the project is estimated at $1 bln.