UPDATE 1-Norway wealth fund can start selling Russian stocks, Norwegian finance ministry says

Norway's $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, can start selling stocks it holds in Russian companies, as long as it complies with international sanctions, Norway's deputy finance minister told Reuters on Friday. "Permission to sell the fund's Russian stocks is given on the condition that the sale can be done in line with applicable sanctions," Deputy Finance Minister Ellen Reitan said in an email.

Norway's $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, can start selling stocks it holds in Russian companies, as long as it complies with international sanctions, Norway's deputy finance minister told Reuters on Friday.

"Permission to sell the fund's Russian stocks is given on the condition that the sale can be done in line with applicable sanctions," Deputy Finance Minister Ellen Reitan said in an email. The Norwegian finance ministry ordered a halt to all transactions in the fund's Russian assets shortly after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and said at the time that the ultimate goal was to divest its holdings.

The fund has so far been effectively barred from offloading Russian assets because it is not permitted to sell to counterparties under U.S. or EU sanctions. On Wednesday, the central bank, which manages the fund, asked for permission to sell parts of its Russian portfolio when possible.

Norway's fund, which holds the windfall generated by its oil and gas production, owns 1.5% of all global listed shares in companies.

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