Rune Gerhardsen makes a come-back (Dagbladet)

It would take a political earthquake to prevent Rune Gerhardsen becoming the leading figure in the Oslo Labour Party’s local election campaign in 2003. A unanimous selection committee will probably forward his name as the party’s candidate for Chairman of the Municipal Executive Board, a position he has also previously held. The challenge for Mr Gerhardsen’s supporters now is to prevent his enemies – of which there are many – from publicly venting their anger over the decision. That task falls to party secretary Jan Bøhler. Under normal circumstances it would have been a hopeless undertaking. Rune Gerhardsen is possibly the most controversial politician to have emerged from the Labour Party in the past ten years – not least among the party’s own members. But the current situation is quite different. The most important reason for the party choosing him as their frontrunner in Oslo is that they do not believe anyone else can attract as many votes.

Financial sector keen to lay hands on pension contributions (Dagens Næringsliv)

The Norwegian financial sector must play an active role in managing the financial assets of the National Insurance Scheme – and will be able to do so at a competitive price. Moreover, being able to make their own decisions about how their pension contributions are invested represents an important learning opportunity for the individuals concerned, and is good for the quality of public debate on financial issues, claims Arne Skauge, head of the Norwegian Financial Services Association. Mr Skauge wants his organization’s members to be given the management of the billions in pension contributions which would become available after a reform of the Norwegian state pension scheme.

Employees do not want investment choice (Aftenposten)

The political right is keen to let employees decide where to invest their National Insurance pension contributions. But employees themselves do not want to. The main trades unions have rejected proposals to allow ordinary people to decide where part of their supplementary state pension contributions should be invested. The unions represent a total of 1.2 million people. Even the Federation of Norwegian Professional Associations, which represents over 120,000 college-educated members – a great many of them in the private sector, has flatly rejected the proposal.

Anders Jahre executors rejected plans for charitable trust (Aftenposten)

This spring the executors of the late Anders Jahre rejected proposals to convert the estate’s NOK 500 million into a charitable trust. This has been confirmed by chief executive Morits Skaugen. The Skaugen family owns what is left of Jahre’s company, Kosmos. "The executors responded that this proposal was of no interest," said Mr Skaugen. Efforts are now being made to win support for the proposal in political circles. In reality it is the Ministry of Finance which will decide the fate of the fortune in offshore assets left by Anders Jahre.

Petroleum fund’s stock market losses could lead to lower interest rates (Dagens Næringsliv)

The losses incurred by the Government Petroleum Fund as a result of plummeting share prices on the world’s stock markets could rescue Norwegian borrowers from a further rise in domestic interest rates this autumn. DnB Markets expects the Norwegian Central Bank to put up interest rates by one half percentage point this autumn, but thinks this could be avoided if Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss takes the Petroleum Fund’s losses into consideration when he prepares next year’s national budget. Mr Foss has been criticized by both DnB Markets and the Socialist Left Party for spending too much of the country’s oil revenues in this year’s budget. If share prices do not start to climb this autumn, the Petroleum Fund could be worth NOK 75 billion less at the end of the year than previously estimated.

NSB faces European challenger (Aftenposten)

The European transport company, Connex, wants to drive trains in Norway. The Stavanger-Oslo route and the Jæren line are at the top of the company’s wish list. The Norwegian railway system will probably be opened to competition in 2004. Connex has already contacted the Transport Ministry and is preparing to bid for lines which could be offered on the open market.

Worth Noting

• The Government does not want to build a new centralized container port at the inner end of the Oslo Fjord. The plan instead is to create a port company which will evaluate regional solutions. Oslo’s Chairman of the Municipal Executive Board believes the decision will lead to collaboration between the various ports up and down the Oslo Fjord.
  (Aftenposten)
• The courts are taking longer and longer to reach a verdict. The three-month deadline for criminal cases was exceeded on average by 24 days during the first six months of the year. In contrast, the average time taken to hear cases during the first half of 2000 was as much as 12 days less than the deadline, according to first-half figures released by the Ministry of Justice Courts Department.
  (Nationen)
• Newspaper’s revenues from advertisement sales have dropped to 1996 levels. The large regional newspapers have been hardest hit, and several of them are now planning further cost cuts. Verdens Gang is the exception. The newspaper is still selling record numbers of copies. While the advertising market for newspapers has slumped, the commercial television channel TV2 yesterday published solid first-half results. TV2’s success is due to the fact that it advertises mainly consumer goods.
  (Aftenposten)
• The country’s new budget airline, Norwegian, says that it has no plans to collaborate with KLM, nor does it want KLM’s money – even though the company lacks investors. Norwegian wants Norwegian investors.
  (Dagsavisen)
• Sales of bag-in-box wine have skyrocketed. A Swedish researcher is afraid this will lead to an increase in alcoholism. Norwegian politicians have called for counter-measures. MP Magne Aarøen, the Christian Democratic Party’s leading spokesman on alcohol-related issues, is demanding wide-ranging measures to curb sales of wine boxes. He indicates two possible ways of halting the explosion in wine-box sales – higher taxes and a possible ban.
  (Verdens Gang)
• Bergesen chief executive Svein Erik Amundsen has hit back at rumours that Norway’s largest shipping line could be on its way into Asian hands. Mr Amundsen described the claims as "a product of the silly season and pure speculation", and said he does not view the immediate future with optimism.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)
• "Børge Brende has scored some easy points, but that is in the nature of the game," said former Environment Minister Thorbjørn Berntsen. In 1992 he proposed the environment protection areas which Mr Brende can now present in their final form. "We were accused of dragging our feet. And now other people are getting the credit for things which we got the Storting to approve, but which have only now been finalized," said Mr Berntsen.
  (Aftenposten)
• The weather in Norway for 2002 looks set to be the hottest on record. While Trøndelag County has experienced its hottest six months since Norwegian meteorologists started measuring temperatures in 1866, the mercury has remained well above normal in the rest of the country, too.
  (Verdens Gang)

Today’s comment from Dagens Næringsliv

Here we go again. The clash between supporters of Thorbjørn Jagland and Jens Stoltenberg in the Labour Party has no sooner died down than the strategic leaks and anonymous party sources are back in the newspaper columns. This time the battle is over the party’s deputy leadership. And if Trond Giske wins selection as deputy leader the skirmishing between party factions could go on for years. The parties on the political right have good reason to be happy about the current state of play in the Labour Party.