The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 81/00

Date: 27 April 2000

NORWEGIAN OFFICIALS TO VISIT ZIMBABWE (Dagsavisen)

A Norwegian delegation of seven or eight will leave for Zimbabwe on 1 May for a look at the situation there. This will help us assess our development assistance to Zimbabwe, says Minister of Development Cooperation Anne Kristin Sydnes. Norway gives around NOK 100 million each year to Zimbabwe, but sets free and fair parliamentary elections as a condition for maintaining this level of assistance.

GENERAL STRIKE LOOMING (Verdens Gang)

The ballot referendum being held in the private sector unions of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) is going against acceptance of the settlement recommendation so far. All the ballots are not yet in, but the trend is so clear that VG’s sources in the LO haven’t the least doubt that Norway is headed for a general strike starting at 6am next Wednesday. Moreover, the strike will be more widespread than previously anticipated.

THE IMPACT OF THE STRIKE (Dagbladet)

A general strike beginning on 3 May is expected to close hotels and the state-run wine and spirits stores and bring breweries, construction and ferries to a halt, and newspapers will probably not be printed. The result of the ballot referendum will be announced tomorrow. Top-ranking union leaders have recommended the settlement to their members, but it seems that many workers are not inclined to follow their leaders this time.

SVEAAS ACQUIRES LARGE STAKE IN ORKLA (Aftenposten)

Financier Christen Sveaas has spent one to two billion kroner on Orkla shares. With a stake somewhere between three and five per cent, he is now one of Orkla’s biggest owners, according to Aftenposten’s sources. Another investor has also been buying up Orkla stock via SEB, a Swedish bank. This investor may be planning changes in Orkla which could increase the share value, which could explain Mr. Sveaas’ own investment activity.

RØKKE PUSHING COASTAL FISHERMEN UNDER (Klassekampen)

The crisis which has struck the coastal communities of northern Norway has a purely political cause. Two-thirds of Norway’s saithe quota has gone to 200 sea-going fishing vessels, leaving the rest to be distributed among 5,000 coastal fishermen. The authorities are building up a capital-heavy sea-fishing fleet, with Kjell Inge Røkke in the lead. Mr. Røkke, who has contacts in the government, will probably be permitted to acquire Findus’ Hammerfest plant as well. Findus is a leading Norwegian producer of frozen fish products.

INTERNET TRADE SLUGGISH (Dagsavisen)

There is nothing to indicate that shopping via the Internet is taking off in Norway or in our neighbouring countries. The Government and the commercial sector will now join forces in a national effort to promote Internet trade. Eight per cent of Norwegian enterprises with over 10 employees had Web-based revenues last year, and so far, this figure shows no signs of growth. Statistics Norway’s prognosis for 2000 forecast a 100 per cent increase this year, but preliminary figures from Norway and Denmark indicate that this will not happen.

GOVERNMENT TO SUPPORT INTERNET TRADE (Dagens Næringsliv)

Minister of Trade and Industry Grete Knudsen intends to provide small businesses with funding to improve their Internet-based trade. Resources may be made available as early as next year. Ms. Knudsen met yesterday with representatives of the Federation of Norwegian Commercial and Service Enterprises (HSH), which requested NOK 381 million right before Easter. According to a detailed action plan, the money will be used to improve Norwegian business enterprises’ Internet trading expertise and ensure that they are not overwhelmed by foreign competitors.

WORTH NOTING

• The Tine Norwegian Dairy Association will build up a business division focussing on acquisition, partnerships, alliances and creation of new enterprise in the food products industry. Tine hopes to enlist Orkla as a partner. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Labour is not interested in a making a deal with the centrist alliance to reduce taxes on alcoholic beverages if it means going along with a reduction in value-added tax on food. Labour would rather turn to the Conservatives for the help it needs to make beer, wine and spirits cheaper. (Dagsavisen)
• Seven of the eight top-ranking officials in the Ministry of Finance earn higher salaries than Finance Minister Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen. Government officials have received raises recently, but ministers have not. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Most people would prefer longer holidays over higher pay, according to a survey taken by Din Mening/Norsk Statistikk for Nationen. Only workers under 30 put money before leisure in this year’s wage settlement. (Nationen)
• Oslo, Akershus, Buskerud, Vestfold and Telemark will have to accept higher wolf populations, according to a Government zoning plan which will be adopted within a few days without being deliberated in the Storting. (Dagbladet)
• 600,000 Norwegians are hard of hearing. From the flower power years down to the present, years of high-volume rock concerts have taken their toll. Never before have so many suffered hearing impairment and tinnitus. And 180 young people every day continue to sustain hearing damage from discotheques, concerts and Walkmen. (Verdens Gang)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Dagens Næringsliv

How much debt can you accept? Most business owners and managers, as well as private persons, would love to be asked this question if it meant discussing a suitable size of debt with their creditors and having the rest cancelled. And when the creditors are able to simply pass the bill on to widows and orphans (for instance), such discussions can even be held in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. This is precisely what is happening with the Gardermoen railway debt. The politicians who rushed this through the gristmill did such a bad job of it that the government will probably have to cancel as much as NOK 9 billion in debts. Sissel Rønbeck and Kjell Opseth, the two Transport and Communications ministers, both from the Labour Party, said the project was a stroke of genius and would be a profitable public transportation system. Seldom has anyone been so far off the mark. If this had been a private commercial project, it would have ended up in a brutal bankruptcy, and investors who had been given the sort of assurances provided by Ms. Rønbeck and Mr. Opseth would hardly have taken it lying down. It is tempting, despite the fact that it would never happen, to suggest some sort of exclusion period for politicians. The taxpayers should not have to put up with politicians like Mr. Opseth, who laugh in their faces when called to account. The railway is there, the trains are running, and everyone’s happy, he says to Dagsavisen. But you are wrong, Mr. Opseth. Everyone is not happy. This is a pure, unmitigated scandal.