STOLTENBERG ON GUARD AGAINST PROGRESS PARTY (Dagbladet)

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg hopes to get Kjell Magne Bondevik and the rest of the political centre to join him in stopping Carl I. Hagen and his Progress Party so that Norway will not end up in disrepute like Austria. "We must prevent the right from gaining an inordinate amount of power in our country," he says, as opposing factions in the Progress Party are mobilizing for a renewed struggle over the character of the party.

STOLTENBERG: "STOP FIGHTING!" (Vårt Land)

"There is too much trite quarrelling going on in the political arena," says Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who feels politicians should stop quibbling over trivialities. "We do the country no good by letting election campaigns and party strategy direct our every move. This gives politics a bad name among ordinary voters and may limit our scope for promoting the general welfare," says Mr. Stoltenberg.

NO EU DEBATE BEFORE 2005 (Dagens Næringsliv)

There is no point whatsoever in bringing Norwegian membership of the EU up for debate before 2005 at the earliest, in the view of Christian Democratic programme committee chairman Einar Steensnæs, who also chairs the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee. The Christian Democrats will demand two referenda—one to determine whether there is a sufficient majority to seek membership, and a second to vote on the treaty negotiated with the EU.

NOK 5.5 TRILLION WILL BE LEFT BENEATH THE NORTH SEA (Nationen)

According to the latest figures from the Petroleum Directorate, a 50 per cent overall production ratio is most realistic. If this is true, 24 billion barrels of oil will still remain under the North Sea when Norway’s oil boom peters out. At today’s prices, this volume of oil is worth NOK 5.5 trillion, or ten national budgets. The current production ratio of Norwegian oil fields is 44 per cent. While oil companies spend NOK 5 - 8 billion per year searching for new fields, the Petroleum Directorate’s ambitions for old oil fields are limited to bringing production ratios up to 50 per cent.

ØKOKRIM HALTS GIGANTIC FRAUD (Aftenposten)

Two persons have been charged with fraud after NOK 50 million from Norwegian investors was confiscated by the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Økokrim) in June. Økokrim received a money laundering report from bank officials whose suspicions were aroused by a specific funds transfer which may prove to consist partially or entirely of illicit funds. Investments from 10 to 15 US and Norwegian individuals were placed in an unusually extravagant project. The money was to be invested in various foreign securities and projects, including a gigantic housing project supposedly worth over a billion kroner. None of the near-victims have filed charges.

AKER CHIEF DEMANDS A SAY IN KVÆRNER (Dagens Næringsliv)

Group CEO Sverre Skogen of Aker Maritime criticizes Kværner chief Kjell Almskog for not wanting active owners. Mr. Skogen is adamant that Aker Maritime—by far and away Kværner’s biggest single shareholder—should have a seat on the Kværner board. Mr. Skogen has spent the past few days mounting a charm offensive aimed at Kværner shareholders.

NORDIC RAILWAYS DECLARE WAR ON GRAFFITI (Aftenposten)

Six young Norwegians have been arrested in Denmark suspected of extensive defacement of railway cars. If convicted, they face huge fines as well as jail sentences. The Nordic railways are now attacking the problem together. "Any good ideas for stopping graffiti are gratefully received," says senior information officer Sigurd Sandvin of the Norwegian National Rail Administration. Cleaning graffiti from Norwegian railway stations costs several million kroner every year.

WORTH NOTING

• Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen refuses to issue an official declaration of confidence in Progress MP Vidar Kleppe, as Mr. Kleppe has requested. "I have given my assurances that we will not interfere with nomination procedures in the individual counties," says Mr. Hagen. (Verdens Gang)
• A recent report from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board is highly critical of the Civil Aviation Administration. The aircraft control centres in Oslo, Bodø and Værnes were all taken down by power or communications outages last year. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Board calls these incidents serious air traffic failures which could have led to collisions in the air. (Aftenposten)
• Four boys defaced an underground railway carriage during rush-hour traffic yesterday. Shocked passengers looked on while they sliced up seats and tore down decorations. Repairs and cleaning cost the Oslo Sporveier spend NOK 40 million last year, and this figure is likely to be even higher this year. (Dagbladet)
• Tourists have ignored over 10,000 parking tickets totalling over NOK 6.6 million in Oslo in the course of the past three years. Swedes were responsible for most of these. (Dagsavisen)
• Oslo has now passed Zürich as the most expensive city in Europe according to a cost-of-living survey conducted by The Economist in 129 cities around the world. (Verdens Gang)
• Bad weather this summer is a boon to a number of well-to-do municipalities. Power production looks to be 20 per cent higher than normal this year, giving power-producing municipalities an extra NOK 300 million in windfall revenues. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Eastern Norwegians are hoping for better weather in August, which will be their last chance at warm summer weather. According to statistics, though, the likelihood of a sunny late summer is small. (Aftenposten)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Dagsavisen

Kjell Inge Røkke already has Aker under control, and he is well on his way to doing the same with Kværner. But this is one of the chances one takes with capitalism; it provides opportunities for brazen competitors whose only concern is their own enrichment, even at the cost of other shareholders and of the long-term health of the company in question. Mr. Røkke has demonstrated that as long as he acts with sufficient impunity, he will meet little resistance. Powerful men in Norway’s business community have been among the most eager to open doors for Mr. Røkke, and most other stock market players have curried his favour— with the exception of National Insurance Administration director Tore Lindholt, who discovered early on that Mr. Røkke was a financier that had to be warned about. In blowing the whistle, though, he became Mr. Røkke’s enemy No. 1 and drew considerable verbal fire. Considering what Mr. Røkke is capable of saying about others he doesn’t like, it is not surprising that the verbal attacks on Mr. Lindholt have been harsh. What is worse, though, is that others have joined in the assault on Mr. Lindholt in an obvious attempt to silence the only one who has had the courage to speak out.

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