Feb 27, 2022 - World

Norway's sovereign wealth fund to divest Russian assets

Ivana Saric

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store — Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Feb. 23. Photo: Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Norway's sovereign wealth fund will divest its Russian assets in light of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced at a news briefing Sunday.

Why it matters: Valued at $1.3 trillion, Norway's state-backed investment fund is the largest in the world. The fund's Russian assets consist of shares in 47 companies, and government bonds, worth a total of some 25 billion Norwegian crowns ($2.83 billion), the government said, per Reuters.

The big picture: "We have decided to freeze the fund's investments and have begun a process of selling out" of Russia, Støre said at the briefing, according to Reuters.

Norway's oil fund, known as the Government Pension Fund Global, has begun the process of withdrawing completely from the Russian market, Norway's Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum said, according to local media.
The government will send a letter to Norges Bank, the country's central bank, to immediately freeze all funds in Russia, Vedum added.

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Norway's sovereign wealth fund to divest Russian assets

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