The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 79/00

Date: 25 April 2000

GARDERMOEN SHUTTLE DEBT UP TO NOK 9 BILLION (Aftenposten)

The establishment and construction of the Gardermoen airport shuttle division of the Norwegian State Railway (NSB Gardermobanen AS), which will be reorganized as a corporation called Flytoget (Norwegian for airport shuttle train), leaves NOK 9 billion in debts for the taxpayers to pay off. The overall cost of building this line has reached NOK 10 billion, and by itself, the shuttle railway will only be able to pay one billion. The Storting has already cancelled NOK 1.7 billion in debts, and now the Ministry of Transport and Communications is asking the Storting to cancel another NOK 7 billion. When the Storting voted in 1992 to build the Gardermoen railway, the legislators were told that it would pay for itself. Berit Kjøll, present managing director of NSB Gardermobanen AS, says it would never have built if there had been any hint of the real cost.

EU ISSUE DIVIDES POLITICAL CENTRE (Dagens Næringsliv)

The EU membership issue reveals division within and among the parties of the political centre. But then, three opinion surveys taken in April disagree, too. All the signs indicate that tension will continue to mount, and that once again, EU membership will be a major issue in next year’s parliamentary elections. A collation by pollster Bernt Aardal of the three EU surveys in April indicates 44 per cent support for Norwegian membership of the EU and 40.8 per cent opposition, while a little under 15 per cent still don’t know.

HÅGENSEN MOVES TO STAVE OFF STRIKE (Dagbladet)

The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) has called out its heaviest artillery in defence of the wage settlement: Yngve Hågensen. Mr. Hågensen will bring all his personal prestige to bear in the effort to have his last main labour settlement as LO president accepted. Today is Mr. Hågensen’s last chance to convince opponents and doubters to vote for the compromise he recommends. 200,000 private-sector workers will vote in a ballot referendum tomorrow, and state mediator Reidar Webster will receive the answer on Friday.

WOLF REPORT HELD BACK BY MINISTRY (Nationen)

A report detailing attacks on humans by wolves in Russia was too controversial for the Ministry of the Environment. The report, published in 1987 in a series issued by the Directorate for Nature Management prior to the release of the Predatory Animal Policy Paper, was retracted in response to pressure from conservationists. Reactions from the popular movement for a new predator policy are furious since the suppression of this report became known. The movement receives support from law professor Carl August Fleischer, who likens this move to the suppression by dictators of information and discussion.

WOMEN UNDER-REPRESENTED AMONG IT EXECUTIVES (Dagsavisen)

Women number less than 10 per cent of top executives in new IT corporations in a survey taken by Dagsavisen among 18 IT corporations on the Oslo Stock Exchange’s main listing. It looks as if women are being pushed aside as corporations merge or reach a certain size, says Kirsten Bergersen of the national competency base for women.

WORTH NOTING

• Whoever has invested heavily in Orkla shares during Easter Week has done everything possible to conceal his, her or their identity, but it may become known today nonetheless. 11.3 per cent of Orkla shares worth over NOK 3 billion changed hands. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• This Easter holiday was a flop for most alpine ski resorts in southern Norway. Losses could be as much as a third of the normal volume of business for Easter as rain washed away millions of kroner in revenues. Snowfalls earlier this month saved the high-country hotels from disaster, however. Despite summer weather, a number of hotels were full. Six persons were killed in Easter accidents. (Aftenposten)
• The framework of costs was not realistic when the procurement of five new frigates passed the Storting last June. The dollar exchange rate used by the Ministry of Defence was unrealistically low, concealing budgetary discrepancies totalling around NOK 250 million. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The Tine Norwegian Dairy Association wishes to expand into other food products categories. The nationwide dairy co-op is looking at investments in the fisheries sector or in manufacturers of potato chips (crisps) or chocolate. (Aftenposten)
• 30,000 Norwegians received inheritances in 1998 as assets worth nearly NOK 13 billion passed from one generation to the next. Most inheritances are around the equivalent of a good year’s income, which looks like a lot of money on the face of it, but in the perspective of a lifetime, is not very much at all, according to Lars Guldbrandsen, director of the Norwegian Social Research Institute (NOVA). Heirs received around NOK 370,000 each on the average in 1998. (Vårt Land)
• The electric car called Think, manufactured in Norway for Ford, will play a central role in a new project targeting the use of hydrogen as a motor vehicle fuel. Scientists at the Institute for Energy Technology at Kjeller are doing pioneer work in this field, and hopes are high. (Romerikes Blad/Dagsavisen)
• Some books will be provided free to upper secondary school students starting this autumn, but Minister of Education, Research and Church Affairs Trond Giske has only NOK 100 million to spend on schoolbooks so far. He is dependent on the generosity of the Storting in next year’s budget in order to put this reform into action. (Dagbladet)
• Banks are closing branch offices, and the Postal Administration is doing the same with rural post offices. The Directorate of Taxes is joining the trend in a move to close assessment offices in rural municipalities, raising an angry outcry from local politicians all around the country. (Dagsavisen)
• After several months of uneasy truce in Oslo, violent encounters between ethnic gangs in Oslo flared up again this Easter. Hostility between immigrant gangs has never been greater. Police and gang members both fear a bloody spring. (Dagbladet)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Dagbladet

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) president Yngve Hågensen will hold a press conference today at which he will discuss the upcoming ballot referendum on the private sector labour settlement. The likelihood that a majority of LO union members may reject a settlement viewed by many as totally inadequate is very real. Central bank governor Svein Gjedrem added to the discontent by raising key rates at the worst possible moment, and it is not difficult to understand the frustration of the rank-and-file over a measly 75 øre per hour wage increase (9 cents US) while senior management salaries are obscenely high, especially considering the refusal by employers to help finance lifelong learning measures. The ballot referendum is the method by which the rank-and-file will exercise their democratic right to accept or reject the compromise achieved by their elected representatives. But the ballot is more than an expression of opinion. It is a declaration of confidence or a lack of confidence in the union leaders. And depending on how the vote goes, it could also be the signal that touches off a strike. For precisely this reason, a ballot referendum is highly unsuitable as an avenue of protest.