Russia-Ukraine war: Norway to increase spending from wealth fund for military, humanitarian aid to Ukraine, says PM

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said his country will increase its spending from its sovereign wealth fund for its military and civilian aid to Ukraine. The increase in spending will take place in the coming years to assist Ukraine.

Speaking to the Norwegian parliament on Thursday, Stoere said the country will temporarily increase the spending from its sovereign wealth fund of $1.3 trillion in the coming years to fund its military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. While Stoere did not mention how much would be spent on aiding Ukraine, the prime minister said it was a multi-year commitment.

“This will lead to a temporary increase in spending from the sovereign wealth fund,” said Stoere, adding that any extra spending should not impact Norway’s domestic economy, which would avoid impacts on interest rates.

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is one of the world’s largest investors and has since seen an increase in revenue inflows as the price of Norwegian oil and gas rose last year as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year and is now approaching its one-year anniversary.

Meanwhile, the British defense ministry, in its intelligence bulletin on Friday, found that the Russian Wagner mercenary group’s scale of recruiting convicts has likely significantly reduced since peaking between the summer and fall of last year. According to the Russian Federal Penal Service figures that were published on Tuesday, the national penal population in Russia is at 433,000, suggesting a decrease of 6,000 since November 2022.

The ministry noted that the FSIN data indicated a drop of 23,000 from September to November 2022, with Wagner recruitment playing a big role in the drop in population.

“Separately, anecdotal evidence from Ukrainian combatants over the last ten days suggests a reduced Russian reliance on human wave style assaults by Wagner convict fighters in key sectors,” said the ministry.

“Significant tensions between Wagner and the Russian Ministry of Defense are playing out in public; competition between factions in the Russian elite is likely to be partially responsible for the reduced supply of convicts,” the ministry added.