Thanks for the kind thoughts. <3

I got key-logged by an abusive parent when I was 14. If that doesn’t make you take digital privacy and security seriously, nothing else will.

And yet all the investments, their value, and what percentage of ownership the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund possess are all publicly available on their website.

If I filter by ‘Russia’, they still show 51 companies. Today. Let’s look at their top five, which you can also view by accessing their own data.

Highest Percentage of Ownership:

1. Lenta International Co PJSC: 2.25%
2. Rosseti Centre PJSC: 2.69%
3. Ufaorgsintez OAO: 0.99%
4. Segezha Group PJSC: 1.16%
5. Bank St Petersburg PJSC: 1.76%

Highest Amounts of Investment in NOK:

1. Gazprom PJSC: 731,368,780
2. LUKOIL PJSC: 536,571,485
3. Sberbank of Russia PJSC: 523,299,961
4. Novatek PJSC: 118,267,597
5. Surgutneftegas PJSC: 76,130,966

^ these alone = ~$185,140,710 USD.

What fiduciary obligations does a pension fund have that is somehow more complex, important, and forgivable vs obligations belonging to Pepsi Co?

Let’s break down that January 31, 2023 article once more:

1: The investments in Moscow listed equities dropped from $2.7 billion to a mere $300 million.

It would be laughably naive to think this is purely because they’ve been ‘pulling out’ of Russia. By all means, review the article and let me know if it states the exact reason for the decrease in value.

2: By December 31, 2022, Norway still had shares in 51 Russian companies.

It’s September 2023. If they were aggressively pulling out, wouldn’t they have zero investments by now?

Nice try.

How would the richest sovereign wealth fund in the world pulling out their investments from Russia bring about living in the freezing cold?

It isn’t as if Norway’s fund haven’t already said they would divest. It’s just that they haven’t taken any concrete action on what they promised for more than a year.

Why?

Who would collapse?

Again: The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund still have active investments in Russia.

Where is the outrage for them?

According to this Norwegian publication in an article published January 31st 2023:

the Norwegian oil fund still holds hundreds of millions worth of shares in petroleum companies like Gazprom, Novatek, Bashneft and Lukoil

Even if the value of their investments lower, they still haven’t pulled out any from Russia. The investments could be worth very little, but they still have something invested in Russia.

Norwegian Government on February 28, 2022, ordered the Oil Fund to freeze all investments in Russia and prepare a plan for divesting with the goal of totally exiting the Russian stock market

What’s stopping them?

Can I still have a go if I change my name to Jeremy Corbyn by deed poll first?

You know what works every time for me against any telemarketer or tele-scammer?

“Excuse me: are you aware that this is a business line?”

Repeat as necessary with appropriate outrage. They always hang up first.

Have you considered an alternative?

I give them grace. I assess their understanding gently and afford them every opportunity to learn on an accessible level. If they can’t learn from me, then I follow my curiosities and see what I can learn from them.

I remind myself, often, that ‘if I’m in the smartest person in the room, I’m in the wrong room.’

It generally comes down to convenience of access mixed with some ethical consideration for me personally. Out of print books, textbooks, and history or research titles that are in the hundreds I’m simply not going to buy. I use JSTOR where I can, but will get academic research as I need if it’s not readily available. I tend not to pirate indie publishers for any media if I can help it. Sometimes I do to check it out before I purchase it. I try to support creators wherever I can, whenever I can. I like that options are available, and I don’t think anything should truly be off limits.