Alaska Senate Democrats Call on the Permanent Fund and Governor Dunleavy to Divest Assets from Russia

In a press release issued today, Alaska Senate Democrats said they had sent two separate letters to Governor Mike Dunleavy and Permanent Fund Board Chair Craig Richards — requesting the immediate divestment of state resources from Russian state-owned companies or the Russian government.

"Alaska should stand with the people of Ukraine and join the numerous other countries, states, and businesses that are divesting from investments in Russia," said Senator Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage). "By divesting our assets, we send a message to Putin and the rest of the world that we will not support Russia's attempt to overthrow a sovereign country."

"Russia's actions have put most of the world on alert. The threat of nuclear war in Europe is far too real for Alaska to sit by and do nothing," said Senator Tom Begich (D-Anchorage). "Alaska has a role to play, and we can do that through removing all investments from Russia. It is just one small piece of the puzzle to oppose Putin's destabilization of eastern Europe."

In a letter sent to Governor Dunleavy yesterday, Alaska Senate Democrats said that since the Russian invasion, countries around the world have implemented sanctions or divested assets away from Russia and that Putin's placing of Russia's nuclear forces on high alert "compels Alaska to take immediate action by implementing a divestment plan from Russian state-owned companies."

The letter notes that in 2009, the Permanent Fund Corporation divested assets from Sudan for its genocide campaign in Darfur.

Democratic candidate for Alaska governor, Les Gara, wrote this morning on Twitter that the state "should and can divest" from Russian assets and join other states and countries who have chosen to stand with Ukraine. Gara says that during his time in the Legislature, both he and Rep. Lynn called for the divestment of companies that had been implicated in the genocide — arguing that thousands of equally diverse and prudent investments could be made elsewhere.

Gara said they filed legislation to pressure the state to divest and that, as a result, the Permanent Fund, which had initially opposed divestment, ultimately did so.

Today's press release follows reporting that neither the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. nor the Alaska Department of Revenue is planning to sell their investments in Russia.

You can read today's press release and letters to Gov. Dunleavy and PFD Chair Craig Richards below.