Glendale City Council prohibits investments of its employees’ pension in Azerbaijani businesses – Lucy Varpetian

The Glendale City Council has prohibited investments of its employees’ pension in Azerbaijani businesses, Lucy Varpetian, Chair of the Armenian Bar Association, told Alpha News.

“The Glendale City Council recently decided to contact the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and demand that the money of the city’s working retirees not be invested in Azerbaijani businesses. The total fund of CalPERS is about half a trillion dollars, of which 170 million are transferred to Azerbaijani businesses. Among them, there are 5 enterprises that are related to the Azerbaijani state: SOCAR, Azerbaijani banks, OL Company,” Varpetian noted.

Such investments, she said, contradict Glendale’s investment policy.

“Since Glendale is home to many Armenians and is also a sister city to Martuni, these investments contradict Glendale’s investment policy. This issue needs to be discussed and resolved. If several other cities, like Glendale, join this decision and appeal to CalPERS, in the near future CalPERS may stop cooperation with Azerbaijan,” Varpetian concluded.