Hospitals face biggest ever deficit (Aftenposten)

Local Government and Regional Development Minister Erna Solberg (Con) has said the Government will not cover the record-breaking budget overruns which county-run hospitals’ are expected to incur this year. In total the hospitals will overrun their budgets by around NOK 2 billion. The main reason for the deficit is that the hospitals have treated more patients this year. Pension costs have also skyrocketed following the slump in the stock market. New regulations have also hit the county administrations with an additional bill for doctors’ pensions.

Bondevik facing a string of defeats (Dagsavisen)

Opposition parties could scupper the Government’s plans for a major sell-off of state-owned shares. Even though Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik does manage to force a majority in favour of his budget, the Labour Party, Socialist Left Party, Progress Party and Centre Party will defeat the Government on a number of issues. The planned sell-off of shares amounts to several hundred billion kroner and is one of the Government’s keynote measures. The Progress Party’s parliamentary leadership will today decide whether or not to humiliate Mr Bondevik.

Bondevik faces humiliation at hands of Progress Party (Dagbladet)

By means of a few – exquisitely painful – pinpricks the Progress Party plans to harry the Government after Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has demanded a vote of confidence to save his government’s budget by the skin of its teeth. Together with the Labour Party and the Socialist Left Party, Carl I. Hagen plans instead to hijack the various committee budgets. Carl I. Hagen’s method for humiliating the Bondevik government is the movement of money in the Storting’s various committees. Mr Hagen has confirmed to Dagbladet that this is one of the ‘theoretical’ consequences of the budget drama which opens next Wednesday.

Norway tightens links to EU (Aftenposten)

Norway has become one of the countries which has done most to adapt itself to the EU’s Single Market directives. According to the latest half-year figures published by the EU and the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA), Norway is now in seventh place in terms of the speed at which the 15 EU member states and the EFTA countries, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, who are linked to the EU through the EEA Agreement, have implemented the EU directives. This represents a significant improvement. Just one or two years ago Norway languished at the bottom of the list. "I will place great emphasis on Norway being among the front runners," said Foreign Minister Jan Petersen, who believes a lack of adaptation, or incorrect adaptation could weaken Norwegian companies’ competitiveness.

Your money or your life! (Dagbladet)

Yukos has launched an all out attack on what it describes as foot-dragging by the banks over their handling of the Kværner crisis. "We demand some decision-making here, otherwise Kværner is doomed to go to the wall," said the Russians’ Norwegian representative Bernt Stilluf Karlsen. "It is almost as if the banks haven’t realized how serious the situation is," said Mr Stilluf Karlsen when he, on behalf of Yukos Oil, demanded to speak at the meeting of Kværner’s bondholders in Oslo yesterday. In his role as bank critic he has joined forces with Kværner’s other major shareholder, Kjell Inge Røkke and his company, Aker Maritime. Kværner’s shareholders have suffered massive losses, while the banks have so far steered clear. The message yesterday was that also they must make a contribution.

Yukos Oil’s man in talks with EU (Dagens Næringsliv)

Yukos Oil’s representative, Bernt Stilluf Karlsen, was in Brussels yesterday for meetings with the European Commission to discuss a possible dismemberment of Kværner or a comprehensive restructuring of the company. "I can confirm that I am due to meet the European Commission. It is difficult to find a long-term structural solution for Kværner without the European Commission being involved," said Mr Stilluf Karlsen. Among the issues on the agenda are probably what kind of limitations the Commission will place on the comprehensive restructuring process Kværner is now facing. Parts of Kværner may be sold off or merged with other companies, and in such a process the EU’s competition legislation could be a problem.

Let Environment Minister look after the fish (Dagbladet)

"Fisheries Minister Svein Ludvigsen and the rest of the fishing industry elite have completely lost the confidence of the Norwegian people. They are steering towards disaster," said Gunnar Album of the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature. Environmentalists are on a collision course with the fishing industry. "Unless management of our fisheries resources becomes more open and confidence-inspiring, it should be put under the administration of the Environment Ministry and Børge Brende," said Mr Album. "If Svein Ludvigsen’s main task is to bless the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association’s environmentally damaging policies, his entire ministry may as well be shut down," said Frederic Hauge, head of the environmental foundation, Bellona.

Low turnout for Svalbard election (NTB)

For the first time ever the people of Svalbard have elected their own local government body. But only half of those islanders eligible took the trouble to vote in this historic election. The new Longyearbyen Local Authority replaces the Svalbard Council, and has approximately the same powers and responsibilities as a local council on the mainland. Due to the high environmental standards which have been set for Svalbard and the special foreign policy aspects linked to the area, there are still some restrictions on what the new Longyearbyen Local Authority can decide compared to a normal local council. Healthcare, education and the Church will remain under the control of the central government.

Worth Noting

• Norway has told the EU that up to 80 Norwegian police officers could be deployed in emergency areas abroad. Norway’s contribution will be announced during meetings in Brussels where the EU will give a briefing on its emerging joint foreign policy and the fight against international terrorism. (Aftenposten)
• Deputy commander-in-chief of the US Naval Forces in Europe, Rear-Admiral David T. Hart, has confirmed that the USA’s equipment depots in Trøndelag county will remain in place until further notice. (Aftenposten)
• Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik is to meet US President George W. Bush in Washington on 5 December, according to a press release published by the Prime Minister’s office. The fight against international terrorism will be at the top of the agenda during the PM’s visit. (NTB)
• Yesterday Education Minister Kristin Clemet was called a ‘thief’ by 10,000 students up and down the country. The students were protesting because Ms Clemet has not raised the grant component of student finances from 30 to 40 per cent. (Dagsavisen)
• Trade and Industry Minister Ansgar Gabrielsen wants to repeal the Concession Act next summer. He does not see that the bureaucratic processing of 2,000 applications to acquire real property (including shares) and significant costs has given adequate results. The opposition parties are deeply sceptical of the coalition government’s plan to repeal the Concession Act. Several of them are in fact demanding stricter controls over the movement of capital and business acquisitions. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The Ministry of Finance wants to amend the law to prevent false bids driving up property prices, reports TV2. All house buyers will be given complete details throughout the bidding process. (NTB)
• Chemicals used for de-icing runways pose a safety risk for the airline industry. The special liquid causes electrical connections on aircraft to rust, reports NRK. The liquid in question is used at several airports including Gardermoen (Oslo), Sola (Stavanger) and Flesland (Bergen). (NTB)
• Last year we officially drank beer, wine and spirits to the tune of NOK 22.5 billion, which corresponds to NOK 6,500 per head. In the past 20 years over 4,000 new licensed premises have appeared. Only one local authority is still completely ‘dry’, Audnedal in the south of Norway. But there too things may be about to change. (Vårt Land)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet

Officially, the Finance Committee has until tonight to hand in its recommendation on the Government’s proposed national budget. It is possible that Carl I. Hagen will throw a last minute lifeline to the Government. But if he does it will have to be after Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has intervened, so that all the world can see that the Government survives at Mr Hagen’s pleasure. But it is also possible that Mr Bondevik will have to call for a vote of confidence just before Christmas if he is to have any hope of getting his budget passed. At that point most commentators believe Mr Hagen will back down. He could not have found a better way of showing who the Government’s lifesaver is. Over the past few weeks we have witnessed a miserable political game. No matter what the Government has proposed, the Progress Party has been just as dismissive. The Finance Committee’s new chairman, Siv Jensen, has not made the slightest effort to arrive at a compromise, and has therefore failed in her job as chairman. It has become increasingly clear that the Progress Party has other objectives in sight than finding a second-best solution the party can support, as it did twice during the previous Bondevik government. What the party has been up to this time looks more like political sabotage. The Progress Party knows that the Government cannot spend any more of Norway’s oil revenues. If this framework is blown apart, we can forget any hope of a cut in interest rates. It is possible that a solution will finally be found this autumn, but this experience must force the Prime Minister to consider if he can continue in this way. The new situation created by the election could open the way for other constellations than that which we see today. The Labour Party too is in need of a new direction. This autumn has made it perfectly clear that the Progress Party is unsuited to play the role of responsible supporter for any government.