OSLO (Reuters) -Norway could support a European Union plan to utilise frozen Russian assets for Ukraine but the Nordic country will not use its sovereign wealth fund as a sole financial backstop for the scheme, Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
EU finance ministers will meet on Thursday to discuss ways to provide 130 billion-140 billion euros ($152 billion-$163 billion) for Ukraine, either by borrowing money or, more likely, using frozen Russian assets, a senior EU official has said.
But Belgium, home to Euroclear which holds the bulk of the Russian assets, has resisted the idea of using the frozen funds, fearing the country could ultimately be held liable in court.
To break the deadlock, some members of Norway’s parliament have proposed that the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest with assets of more than $2 trillion, could offer a guarantee that would cover a potential legal liability.
Stoltenberg, a former head of the NATO alliance, said EU outsider Norway was already making major financial contributions to Ukraine and could also potentially participate in the Union’s plans, but would not provide guarantees on its own.
“There have been some ideas that Norway should guarantee the whole amount, 1.6 trillion Norwegian crowns ($159 billion) or so, and that’s not an option,” Stoltenberg told public broadcaster NRK while on a visit to Brussels.
Investing decades of oil and gas revenue in foreign stocks, bonds and other assets, the Norwegian wealth fund is equivalent to four times Norway’s annual gross domestic product, making it a major presence in global financial markets.
The fund has a rule that says only its expected inflation-adjusted return should be spent by governments each year, which is defined as 3% of overall assets.
($1 = 10.0431 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Terje SolsvikEditing by Gareth Jones)
