KOSOVO WAR HAS COST NORWAY NOK 5 BILLION (Aftenposten)

Combat, peacekeeping, refugees and aid related to the war in Kosovo have so far cost Norway NOK 5 billion. Norway and Denmark will take joint charge of KFOR in Kosovo for six months starting in April 2001, costing Norwegian taxpayers several hundred million kroner. Norway has already spent NOK 3 billion on peacekeeping alone.

LABOUR YOUTH LAUNCH ANTI-EU CAMPAIGN (Dagsavisen-Sunday)

With the Labour Party national convention only four months away, the Labour Youth League has released a new anti-EU-membership manual which it has prepared in secret. This book is a counterweight to the efforts of Thorbjørn Jagland and other party leaders to steamroller the EU issue through the Norwegian political system. Mr. Jagland has announced that the effort to get Norway into the EU will be escalated further. He intends to secure the backing of the national convention for an application for EU membership. "If necessary, we can hold an extraordinary national convention before applying," says Mr. Jagland.

DEFENCE PROPERTY TO GO ON SALE (Dagens Næringsliv)

Norway’s biggest landowner, the Norwegian defence establishment, proposes to sell off approximately NOK 20 billion worth of property. Major cutbacks and reduced needs compel the defence forces to sell. The Government and the Storting will make the final decision on what is to be sold and what is to be kept. "Some of this property is quite exclusive, but we’ve also got property which probably has a negative value," says Helge Rohn, managing director of the Defence Building Service.

INDIFFERENT SHAREHOLDERS ARE RØKKE’S HOPE (Dagsavisen-Saturday)

Most Kværner shareholders do not exercise their voting rights, and this could enable Kjell Inge Røkke to take full control. But efforts are now afoot among the 16,500 small shareholders to halt Mr. Røkke. If they act together, the small shareholders wield substantial power. Thirty-six per cent of Kværner equity is held by small shareholders.

DnB SILENT ON CREDIT GUIDELINES (Aftenposten-Saturday)

After Kjell Inge Røkke’s last borrowing round, the top management at Den norske Bank (DnB) said it would take a closer look at DnB guidelines regarding loans intended to finance corporate acquisitions. Mr. Røkke now needs more money, and he is likely to ask DnB for a loan. DnB officers refuse to disclose the guidelines they will be following this time, however.

HAUGLAND: NO CHANCE OF COALITION WITH PROGRESS (Dagsavisen-Saturday)

Carl I. Hagen (Progress) will never be invited to take part in a coalition with the political centre. They are too far from each other politically, and the Centre, Liberals and Christian Democrats continue to maintain their distance to Progress Party policy. "The Progress Party would have to set most of its party programme aside if we were to sit in the same Government, so I view this as highly unlikely," says Christian Democratic party chairman Valgerd Svarstad Haugland.

HAGEN TO WHIP PROGRESS INTO SHAPE (Dagbladet-Saturday)

It is Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen’s firm resolve that his party must be taken seriously, so he is gearing up for another round of purges. In his stormy life as the party’s leading figure, he has expelled, at regular intervals, right-wing extremists, rednecks, troublemakers and others taking liberties with the party line. The turn has now come to anti-immigrationists.

WORTH NOTING

• A new satellite is scheduled for launching from the Sea Launch platform in the Pacific Ocean. Kværner owns a 40 per cent share in Sea Launch. The last launch, which took place in March, was unsuccessful. Kværner is bracing to take losses in the billions of kroner if this launch fails as well. (Aftenposten)
• The vacating of the buildings of the old National Hospital not far from the Oslo city centre may be delayed by over three months, and the state stands to lose huge sums. At least 600 residential units are planned for building on the site. (Dagsavisen)
• Neither the Oslo Stock Exchange nor the Banking, Insurance and Securities Commission have investigated the transactions surrounding Aker Maritime’s acquisition of Kværner stock. Both institutions were under the impression that the other was taking care of the matter. (Dagens Næringsliv-Saturday)
• Final election statistics show that two out of three first-time voters did not take part in last year’s elections. (Verdens Gang-Sunday)
• Minister of Social Affairs Guri Ingebrigtsen feels the affluent elderly should pay more for nursing and care services. (Dagsavisen)
• Norwegian Medical Association president Hans Petter Aarseth believes more efficient hospital management could add another 1,600 man-years to the capacity of doctors in the hospital system. (Vårt Land)
• Armed robbers have made off with over NOK 62,143,000 from money transports, which has never been recovered. The use of electronic locating equipment has led to arrests in three out of seven robberies. (Verdens Gang-Saturday)
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spends NOK 15 million every year profiling Norwegian artists abroad as publicity for Norway. Critics dislike the MFA’s practice of using art to market Norway. (Dagsavisen)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Verdens Gang

A political consensus to reduce the value-added tax rate on food finally seems to be taking shape. According to Minister of Agriculture Bjarne Håkon Hanssen, the Government is prepared to consider a reduction in value-added tax on food as one way of bringing food prices down. The centrist parties have long voiced their advocacy of this sort of measure, and the Conservatives now seem inclined to follow suit, provided farmers do their part in making farm products cheaper. There seems thus to be a majority in favour of reducing this VAT component in next year’s fiscal budget. The staggering increase in cross-border trade finally seems to be making an impression on our politicians, a growing number of whom realize that VAT on food must be cut by half. Spending by Norwegians in Sweden is up 50 per cent so far this year, and seems to be completely out of hand. The main reason for this state of affairs is the high cost of food in Norway. The situation is intolerable, but if nothing is done, matters will only grow worse. Norwegian businesses in border districts stand to lose heavily, as will Norway’s farmers. Lower VAT on food coupled with continued pressure on farmers to produce more efficiently will make it possible to close the gap in food prices between Norway and Sweden. We expect our politicians to take the first step this autumn.

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