Conservatives won almost everything (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Jan Petersen won most of the battles to secure Conservative nominees key ministerial posts last week. The Liberals are nevertheless pleased to be on board and the Christian Democrats are consoling themselves with capturing the premiership. "There is no wild jubilation this time," was Christian Democrat general secretary Inger Helen Venås’s description of the feeling in the party. Kjell Magne Bondevik’s team have been drawn from the country’s central areas, which has provoked some disgruntled murmuring from the Christian Democrats’ regional representatives. However, there have not been any objections to the Conservative ministers who are seen as particularly right-wing. Victor D. Norman will quickly moderate his stance, it is being said.

Bondevik: I have a vision (Dagbladet/Saturday)

"I stand for values, principles and clear points of view. Fighting on behalf of the poorest and the persecuted is crucial. That is why the Christian Democrats wanted to take office," said Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. By his actions and political results he wants to change his image from that of political manipulator to politician driven by passion and an ardent vision for the future.

Sponheim not bothered by supermarket prices (Verdens Gang/Saturday)

Norway’s new Minister of Agriculture, Liberal leader Lars Sponheim, is not particularly concerned about the level of food prices in this country. Nor is Mr Sponheim particularly keen on the cut-price supermarket chains belonging to Stein Erik "Rimi" Hagen. "I personally feel too much emphasis has been placed on food prices. I have always had enough money not to have to worry about food prices. I am more preoccupied with more sophisticated types of food," said Mr Sponheim.

Minister calls SAS a predator (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)

It took Labour and Government Administration Minister Victor D. Norman just one hour to halt SAS’s acquisition of Braathens. "SAS should not be allowed to acquire Braathens. Moreover, I do not think predators should get to eat their prey," he said. But just three hours later the ministerial rookie was already backing down. Mr Norman made it plain that these were his own private opinions, and that SAS’s application to take over Braathens would be handled with an open mind.

Hungry for more stock market power (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Ansgar Gabrielsen, Norway’s new Trade and Industry Minister, aims to take control of the Oslo Stock Exchange. Through a combination of direct and indirect investments the Norwegian state today owns more than 30 per cent of the market value of the companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. These state investments will now be collected under the control of the Trade and Industry Minister. Statoil is one of the companies Mr Gabrielsen would very much like to own. If that were to happen it could signal a dramatic change in oil policy, because Statoil would then lose the right to sell state-owned oil and gas.

Home PC purchases still tax-free (NTB)

Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss had not been long in the job before reversing the previous government’s decision to abolish the tax exemption for private purchases of PC equipment. At a meeting on Sunday the Stoltenberg government’s resolution of 16 October was reversed, and new instructions sent to the Directorate of Taxes. The scheme whereby employees receive tax breaks if they pay for the purchase of a home PC through salary deductions will remain in force.

One in six doctors is foreign (Aftenposten)

16 per cent of the doctors working in Norway come from another country. The majority of imported doctors come from Sweden, but Germany, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Iraq and Russia are sending an increasing number of doctors to Norway. Foreign doctors cause problems for the health service. All of them learn Norwegian, but those who have the greatest need to strengthen their language skills are often those who do not take additional classes. They may also not be up to scratch on a professional level either. Finland is now trying to tempt its doctors back home again. But the proportion of foreign doctors has increased since the mid-nineties. Every year 100 new doctors arrive in this country, and they boast of good working conditions and a good professional environment.

Local authority pension fund (KLP) predicts premium hike for private sector pension funds (Dagens Næringsliv)

Ole Jacob Frich, head of public affairs at the local authority pension fund, KLP, has predicted that private sector pension fund customers could face a doubling in pension costs next year. "Completely wrong," reply KLP’s competitors. KLP has suffered major losses on its stock market investments and has now been forced to demand an additional NOK 2.4 billion in premiums from its customers this year. Mr Frich has said that private sector companies will have to make a similar move next year. Thomas Skålnes, head of corporate communications at Vital, described Mr Frich’s comments as a desperate attempt by KLP to hang on to its customers.

Worth Noting

• The new Bondevik government has fewer senior executives, but more education than the out-going Stoltenberg government. It is also older and has more children than the Stoltenberg team. (Vårt Land/Saturday)

• Kjell Magne Bondevik was not hiding many surprises up his sleeve when he presented his new coalition government on the Palace steps yesterday. A solid government with around 150 years of parliamentary experience is now ruling the country. "The Government has a noticeable lack of ministers from the Norwegian regions and is clearly dominated by representatives from the southeastern part of the country," said Centre Party chairman Odd Roger Enoksen. Ten government ministers come from the Oslo area. (Nationen/Saturday)
• A Norwegian policeman will probably soon be stationed in Dubai to gather intelligence on drug smuggling and money laundering activities. (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• When the three coalition partners were negotiating a joint political platform, Jan Petersen demanded to have human rights included in his portfolio – and won. For this reason Hilde Frafjord Johnson is "only" Minister for Development Cooperation in the second Bondevik government. (Vårt Land)
• Ten years’ ago professor Victor D. Norman led a commission which concluded that increased public sector efficiency could save the Government NOK 130 billion and cut 500,000 jobs. Now it is Mr Norman who has responsibility for modernizing and reforming the public sector. The newly appointed minister did everything in his power yesterday to lower expectations. (Dagsavisen/Saturday)
• In a farewell interview with the internet-based newspaper, Nettavisen, former Foreign Minister Thorbjørn Jagland described international reactions to news of Norway’s change of government. "I have made a large number of friends and contacts the world over. During the past few days they have phoned me to say they think it is sad that I am resigning. (Nettavisen/Saturday)
• Kværner Hydrocarbons may shortly be sold to the Russian oil company, Yukos Oil. Yukos believes this sale could solve Kværner’s acute liquidity problems, but the company is not planning on selling any of its Kværner shares. (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)
• Trade and Industry Minister Ansgar Gabrielsen (Con.) will not intervene to save Kværner, but is willing to meet employee representatives this week. The Red Electoral Alliance is calling for the Government to buy Kværner shares to stop stock market speculation in the company’s shares. (Klassekampen)
• Ex-Trade and Industry Minister Grete Knudsen is furious about ex-Finance Minister Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen’s decision to tighten up the tax regulations surrounding the purchase of home PC equipment. On Tuesday – just three days before the Government resigned – the Finance Ministry sent a memo to the Directorate of Taxes instructing tax officials to tighten up the way they grant tax breaks for the purchase of home PC equipment. (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)
• Telenor’s powerful chief executive, Tormod Hermansen, has decided to resign. He is planning to step down next summer. (Verdens Gang/Sunday)
• Stocks of North Sea cod have hit an all-time low and are in danger of collapsing altogether, according to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Fisheries Minister Svein Ludvigsen (Con.) is concerned. (Nationen/Saturday)
• Fisheries Minister Svein Ludvigsen (Con.) did not inform Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik that he is a Freemason when he was invited to join the new government. Mr Ludvigsen has been criticized by law professor Carl-August Fleischer. "It is unfortunate when people in positions of power belong to this kind of brotherhood," said Mr Fleischer. (Dagsavisen)
• By midnight on Sunday a total of NOK 130 million had been collected in connection with this year’s televised charity appeal. The money will go to Norwegian Church Aid’s HIV/Aids relief work in more than 70 countries. (NTB)
• The Norwegian Trade Council has been forced to abandon its plans to create a Norwegian Olympic House in Salt Lake City. The house was to have been a meeting place for Norwegian businesses, and the Trade Council has paid out NOK 900,000 in rent and rebuilding costs for the former library. More than 10 companies have now given notice that they are no longer planning to use the house because of the recent terrorist attacks on the USA. (Aftenposten)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet

Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, has been sifting through the text of the proposed national budget, and the result is not particularly uplifting for the country’s mortgage-holders. Mr Gjedrem has, however, found encouraging things for Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss. Mr Gjedrem claims to have discovered that the tax cuts proposed in the budget are more than twice as large as the NOK 3 billion presented by Mr Foss’s unassuming predecessor, Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Petersen. Mr Gjedrem has worked out the effect of the tax cuts for the year 2003. This must be a gift for Tax Minister Foss. But it also increases the pressure on prices and reduces the chances of a cut in interest rates. Mr Gjedrem’s task is to adjust interest rates according to inflation. If the downturn in the international economy continues and the plight of Norway’s export industries is considered most important, Mr Foss will have to give him new instructions. This is out of the question. Instead the politicians must tighten the country’s belt sufficiently for it to have a positive effect on interest rates. This is the task which now awaits Mr Foss, for he certainly cannot make cuts in his predecessor’s tax concessions.