Derbyshire Pension Fund has £12million invested in Russian companies

The investment makes up approximately 0.2 per cent of the fund’s £6billion portfolio.

The news comes as Britain imposes numerous sanctions against Russia, with the hope that applying economic pressure will halt its increasingly violent assault upon the Ukraine.

The county council is the administering authority for the Derbyshire Pension Fund, which has in excess of 100,000 members from more than 300 employers across the county.

Leader Councillor Barry Lewis said: “The administration supports a move to divest from Russian investments as soon as is practical and in line with meeting the objectives of the UK’s sanctions regime.”

The pension fund and its fund managers are monitoring and assessing developments in the Ukraine and are assessing the implications of the sanctions being put in place against Russia, working alongside the closure of the Russian stock exchange and suspensions in trading.

The fund has recently come under fire for investing in fossil fuels, with protests held outside County Hall by Divest Derbyshire and Derbyshire Pensioners Action Group.