Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest with assets of more than $1.8 trillion, can start selling off its Russian holdings as long as it does not conflict with international sanctions, the Scandinavian country's Deputy Finance Minister Elen Reitan told Reuters.
"The permission to sell Russian assets comes with the requirement that this be done in line with the sanctions imposed on Russia," Reitan wrote in an email to the agency.
The Norwegian Finance Ministry has ordered the fund to cease all its transactions with Russian assets since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. and added that the ultimate goal is for the fund to part with them.
The fund has so far been unable to sell its Russian assets under bans imposed by the EU and the US.
On Wednesday, the central bank that manages the fund requested permission to start selling parts of its Russian portfolio.
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, which collects revenues from gas and oil sales, owns about 1.5 percent of the companies' listed shares.