NOK 1 BILLION EXTRA FOR K-BANK (Aftenposten)

The Government will get around NOK 1 million extra for its K-Bank shares after an intense round of bidding. MeritaNordbanken will therefore probably take over Kreditkassen, one of Norway’s major retail banks, before the end of the year after offering NOK 49 per share. Powerful forces are now being mobilized to keep Den norske Bank (DnB) in Norwegian hands. Politicians are seeking to ally themselves with much criticized business leaders and private investors with flamboyant lifestyles. Everyone is being asked to rally round the flag.

PLANS TO CREATE A MAJOR NEW NORWEGIAN BANK (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Supermarket billionaire and Storebrand shareholder Stein Erik Hagen is working furiously behind the scenes to bring about a merger between the insurance company, Storebrand, and Den norske Bank. Mr Hagen wants to create a strong national commercial bank, and has confirmed that he has been in contact with a number of Storebrand’s major shareholders. According to Mr Hagen, the opportunity exists now because Åge Korsvold and Jon R. Gundersen have left Storebrand. He believes that the Swedish banks which did not succeed in acquiring Kreditkassen will turn their attention to Storebrand, now that K-Bank is being sold to a foreign company. Mr Hagen says that Storebrand and DnB complement each other, and that Storebrand needs the bank’s branch network.

OPEN FOR MEGA-MERGER (Verdens Gang/Sunday)

DnB chairman Jannik Lindbæk is open to the idea of a merger with Storebrand. However, DnB’s chairman says there is one absolute precondition that must be in place before any merger with Storebrand can be of interest to DnB. It must be possible for the insurance company Vital to continue as part of DnB. "That is non-negotiable from our side," says Mr Lindbæk.

COMATOSE BUSINESS LEADERS (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Labour Party chairman Thorbjørn Jagland says that Norwegian business leaders’ inability to empathize with other people’s situations indicates that they are comatose. According to Mr Jagland, Carl I. Hagen is suffering from the same condition. The Labour Party leader’s comments have provoked strong reactions. "He is using the same technique as Hagen," says vice president Kristin Clemet from the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry. She believes the attack on Norwegian business is damaging for the country.

WIND AND WATER GIVE NORWAY ENOUGH POWER (Dagsavisen)

Executive vice president Christian Rynning-Tønnesen from Statkraft says that windmills and new hydroelectric power stations are the way forward. "There is no law of nature that says we have to have gas-fired power stations in Norway," he says. Environmental groups hope that Statkraft’s views are evidence of a change of opinion with regard to Norwegian energy policy. "This shows how meaningless it is for the Labour Government to push through gas-fired power stations as an energy source," says Einar Håndlykken, chairman of the environmental organization Nature and Youth.

PETROLEUM FUND WON’T PROVIDE SECURE OLD AGE (Nationen)

Politicians will not use the Norwegian Petroleum Fund to provide a secure old age when the boom in the number of elderly arrives, claims Jan Mønnesland, a researcher with the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR). The arguments against using the oil money will be even stronger when the number of pensioners reaches its peak. It is a current vogue among politicians that the oil money cannot be used.

WORTH NOTING

1. With a 10 per cent stake in Storebrand, Orkla with chief executive Jens P. Heyerdahl is the dark horse in the battle for the insurance company. Personal chemistry and the Government’s shareholding may once again put a spanner in the works of a merger between Storebrand and DnB. (Dagens Næringsliv)
2. Who is it who is not telling the truth about former Storebrand chief executive Åge Korsvold’s stock options? Is it Orkla boss Jen P. Heyerdahl or shopkeeper Stein Erik Hagen? The row between two of the country’s leading business figures continues unabated after Mr Hagen, in a letter, repeated his claims that Mr Heyerdahl knew of Mr Korsvold’s stock option deal. (Dagens Næringsliv)
3. The Banking, Insurance and Securities Commission continues to have doubts about a merger between Storebrand and DnB. "Basically, we are worried about one company gaining such a large market share in the insurance sector," says Commission Director General Bjørn Skogstad Aamo. (Aftenposten)
4. The OECD says that the development in wage levels in Norway and the Government’s economic policy have been negative in 2000. The budget will ensure that industry’s competitiveness is further weakened next year. (Aftenposten)
5. If the authorities, business and the housing cooperatives work together, they could effectively stop the problem of graffiti. Removing graffiti costs the country around NOK 2 billion each year. (Dagsavisen/Sunday)
6. A recent opinion poll indicates that one out of every two Norwegians wants to keep the state church. But opposition is rising steadily, and is approaching 40 per cent. (Vårt Land/Saturday)
7. The outspoken editor-in-chief and social commentator Steinar Hansson is to leave Dagsavisen at the end of the year. In the six years he has been editor, he has implemented changes on a scale not seen in any other Norwegian newspaper in such a short time. (Dagsavisen/Saturday)
8. For years Norwegian teachers’ unions have been vocal in their demands for more teachers, but the teacher/pupil ratio in Norway is among the highest in the world. (Verdens Gang)
9. Eva Kristin Hansen, newly elected chairman of the Norwegian Labour Youth League, is afraid that there will not be a single Labour Party representative under 30 in the next Storting. (Dagsavisen/Sunday)

TODAY’S COMMENT FROM DAGBLADET

How long can the Progress Party hang on to its new supporters in the electorate? Because they can’t keep this up until the elections in a year’s time, can they? These are the worrying questions currently being asked by all the established parties, who in recent months have lost large number of voters to Carl I. Hagen. No one knows the answer, but the majority console themselves with the thought that things will eventually get back to normal, and that when the crunch comes voters will fill out their ballot papers in the same way as always. When the floating vote is large, much can happen in a short time. But it is worth noting that after its record elections in 1997, the Progress Party has been the most stable party – with the exception of the past two months’ peak results. We must therefore count on the party being a significant political power in the next Storting. Naturally, it is a situation we deeply regret. It is up to the other parties to do something about it.

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