Minister’s fellow Freemasons from fishing industry (Dagsavisen)

Fisheries Minister Svein Ludvigsen belongs to the same Masonic Lodge as several key executives from the Norwegian fishing industry. Their most important task is to influence the Minister’s decisions – and make money from them. Ågot Valle (Socialist Left), newly elected leader of the Storting’s Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs Committee, has said that Mr Ludvigsen’s membership of the Freemasons has created an untenable situation. She has asked Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik to intervene in the affair.

Kværner still needs NOK 2 billion (Aftenposten)

The sale of Kværner’s London based businesses to Russian Yukos Oil for almost NOK 900 million is not enough to fill the ailing Norwegian corporation’s coffers. Kværner is sticking to its plan to pull in NOK 2 billion in fresh capital from its investors. Nevertheless, Yukos Oil has indicated it would consider selling its stake in Kværner before the end of a two-year period – if it were to receive a good enough offer. "But under normal circumstances we are sticking to what we have said," said Hugo Eriksen, Yukos Oil’s head of corporate communications.

Kværner being prepared for partition (Klassekampen)

Yukos Oil now has full control of two of Kværner’s subsidiaries, and is amassing more shares in preparation for a partition of the company. When Yukos started buying Kværner shares the Russian company announced that its investment was intended to secure the survival of Kværner Hydrocarbons and Kværner Process Technology. Yukos has already made a bid for these two companies, which supply a number of important services to Yukos’s oil production activities in Siberia. Kværner did not want to sell its subsidiaries, which prompted Yukos to start buying Kværner shares.

Yukos demands debt relief (Dagens Næringsliv)

The Russian oil company, Yukos Oil, is demanding that Kværner’s most important bankers, including Den norske Bank (DnB) and Nordea, write down significant amounts of Kværner’s debts. One of the levers Yukos could use to bring this about is to refuse to participate in a share issue unless the banks grant Kværner some level of debt relief. Yukos’s demands come at a time when Kværner’s bankers are busily hammering out a consensus on how to solve the company’s financial crisis. While the banks are united in their opposition to Kværner’s shareholders over who should pay the largest share of the bill, there is also a germ of disagreement amongst the banks themselves.

Heiberg doubts Winter Olympics will take place (Aftenposten)

Gerhard Heiberg, the Norwegian IOC member, is not sure that the Winter Olympics scheduled to be held in Salt Lake City in just three months will actually go ahead. "A country at war cannot host an Olympic Games. The issue of war and where to draw the line will be discussed by the Coordinating Committee in a few days’ time. The meeting was planned long before the September attacks on the USA," said Mr Heiberg.

Environment Minister warns UK over radioactive emissions (Dagbladet)

Just three days after taking office as Environment Minister, Børge Brende (Con) has threatened to pursue Tony Blair and the UK government through the international courts if they do not stop the radioactive pollution emanating from the Sellafield nuclear waste plant. "I am now contacting the Foreign Ministry and the Attorney General to find out if international conventions and international law give us grounds to take the British to court," said Mr Brende in an interview with Dagbladet.

Worth Noting

• Government Administration Minister Victor D. Norman has declared himself to be not impartial in relation to SAS’s bid to takeover Braathens. The Norwegian Competition Authority will decide today whether or not to give SAS the go-ahead for its acquisition of the ailing domestic airline, Braathens. (Aftenposten)
• SAS will probably be forced to lower its fares on a number of flights in order to attract more passengers. Yesterday KLM cut its fares by 25 per cent to a number of destinations, but so far the price-cuts only apply to Economy Class tickets. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Since the start of Kværner’s financial crisis the Odin Unit Trust Funds have sold 1.2 million shares in the company. Last week alone Odin quietly offloaded 400,000 shares. (Aftenposten)
• The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) has attacked the US air strikes against Afghanistan. The consequences of the bombing are unacceptable, according to a statement by the LO Secretariat. (Dagsavisen)
• The state-owned Postal Administration has acquired 49.9 per cent of Linjegods to become the freight carrier’s largest shareholder. The acquisition and the cooperation between the two companies must have the approval of the Trade and Industry Ministry and the Norwegian Competition Authority. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Anne Enger Lahnstein believes it is just a matter of time before the Centre Party and the Labour Party form a coalition government. According to Ms Lahnstein’s autobiography, Green Lady, Red Rag, published yesterday , the Labour Party is her "hopeless love affair". Ms Lahnstein says that differences over EU membership and the Labour Party’s political arrogance are what stand in the way a Labour/Centre Party coalition. (Dagsavisen)
• Ownership of farming land in Norway is strictly regulated. The Bondevik government has now proposed an increase in the minimum size at which farming properties become subject to regulation. This will mean that over 50,000 smallholdings, or one in four farming properties, could be sold on the open market without any obligations on the owner to live there permanently or work the land. (Nationen)

Today’s comment from Verdens Gang

The Government makes its first important political announcement today when it makes its inaugural address to the Storting. These kinds of declarations of intent rarely contain any political dynamite, but the way in which the Conservatives’ strong presence in the cabinet has coloured the Government’s manifesto, in contrast to how it would have looked if the coalition had been made up solely of centrist parties, will be duly noted. The choice of focus areas and targets often says as much as the declaration’s actual wording. That an issue is not mentioned can also be an important political signal. The most interesting question will be whether the Government’s declaration reflects the fact that the Progress Party had a hand in its accession to power. The Government can choose to treat all the opposition parties alike, and say that it wishes to establish a constructive dialogue with them on a case by case basis. However, Carl I. Hagen is undoubtedly right in saying that the Progress Party is in a different position to the other opposition parties. The Progress Party smoothed the Government’s path to office, and Mr Hagen is demanding to be treated with what he calls respect and to be heard on a political level. If the Government makes no reference to this in its inaugural address the Progress Party, always sensitive of its position, could become extremely annoyed. It will also be interesting to see if the address gives any indication of the kinds of changes we can expect in the proposed national budget. Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss should not initiate his term in office by weakening the national budget. It would raise doubts about his ability to make hard choices and prioritize, and would represent a very bad start indeed.