Norway sovereign wealth fund to pull out of Russia investments

Norway's $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund will pull out of all investments in Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine, the Norwegian government said Feb. 27.

Although the fund has since divested oil and gas holdings worldwide for environmental reasons, the move would mean pulling investments in companies such as Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, which was on a list for 2020 of the fund's Russian holdings. The list showed the fund holding a wide ranges of stakes, from resource companies to banks.

In a statement, the government said finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum had ordered the freezing and subsequent sale of all Russian assets in what is one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, derived from earnings from half a century of Norwegian oil and gas production.

Russian assets in Norway's "oil fund," formally known as the Government Pension Fund Global, account for some $3.4 billion of the total, according to its website. In total the fund accounts for around 1.5% of all publicly listed companies globally, the website notes.

The announcement came as part of a wider unveiling of Norwegian support for Ukraine and efforts to call Russia to account and force a pullback by Russia's military.

A number of Russian companies have been allowed a modest role in Norway's offshore oil and gas industry after an improvement in ties since the two countries agreed a delineation of their sea border in 2010.

On Feb. 27 BP said it was jettisoning its 19.75% ownership stake in state-controlled Rosneft, one of Russia's most prominent corporate partnerships.