PM wants answer on Hagen’s future role (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg thinks it would be unfortunate if Carl I. Hagen were to become President of the Storting, and has called on the Christian Democrats and Conservatives to say who they want to hold that office. "I hope there is nothing to the recent speculation that the Christian Democrats and Conservatives are planning to offer the post to Carl I. Hagen. The President of the Storting should be a unifying force, not someone from one of the political extremes," said Mr Stoltenberg.

Conservatives poach Hagen’s supporters (Aftenposten)

The Conservatives are on the offensive in the polls at the moment and are poaching supporters from most of the other parties. According to the June results of Opinion’s voters’ panel, it is the Progress Party which is suffering the most. In the past six months the Conservatives have won more than 400,000 new voters, with half of them coming from the Progress Party. The Conservative Party, which is currently the country’s largest party, has grabbed a large number of hitherto floating voters. Almost 50,000 people who voted for the Labour Party at the last election say they will vote for the Conservatives at this autumn’s general election.

Foreign investors tempted by Statoil (Aftenposten)

Around 16 per cent of Statoil’s shares will be transferred into foreign hands. British and US investors have shown the keenest interest in buying Statoil’s shares, which will be officially launched on the stock market today. Statoil can use shares worth up to NOK 18 billion to attract a strategic partner. Statoil chief executive Olav Fjell says the company is in no hurry and denies that prospective partners are already queuing up at Statoil’s door.

Hermansen critical of Oslo Stock Exchange (Dagens Næringsliv)

Telenor chief executive Tormod Hermansen says that the Oslo Stock Exchange has a poor reputation among foreign investors. "I’m referring to the rumours about insider trading. The Oslo Stock Exchange does not have a positive reputation, and that leads to a certain hesitancy among investors about buying shares whose primary listing is on the Oslo Stock Exchange," said Mr Hermansen.

Billion kroner ad campaign for Norwegian seafood (Aftenposten)

The Norwegian Seafood Export Council is to spend NOK 1 billion over the next three years to promote Norwegian seafood throughout the world. At the same time NOK 20 million will be spent on a campaign to get Norwegian families to choose fish for dinner more often. No other country spends so much on seafood advertising. But on the other hand, Norway is the world’s largest exporter of seafood, according to a report by the UN’s food and agriculture organization (FAO). Last year Norway’s seafood exports brought in NOK 31 billion.

Retailers fear chaos (Dagbladet/Saturday)

"There is no longer any reason to talk about VAT chaos, we are introducing an improved and more modern VAT system," said Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen yesterday when he presented the final batch of VAT reform regulations. But retailers and the service industry fear chaos in the weeks ahead. The last regulations have been announced just two weeks before the reform is due to come into effect. The Finance Minister made it clear yesterday that the country’s tax offices have been told to initially give priority to providing advice and information rather than carrying out checks and controls. Mr Schjøtt-Pedersen did not hide the fact that finalizing the various exceptions and drawing up guidelines for borderline cases had been a difficult task. He admitted that the VAT reform could explain in part the Labour Party’s recent poor showing in the polls.

Foreign Minister prepared to increase EU contribution (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)

Foreign Minister Thorbjørn Jagland is prepared to shoulder part of the costs linked to the EU’s expansion eastwards. Just how much Norway will pay is a matter for negotiation. "We cannot just take the benefits and not share the obligations. We do have to pay for access to the EU’s single market," said Mr Jagland. Norwegian industry is terrified that the country will be thrown out of the EU’s single market. The Government on the other hand is worried by the prospect of a situation in which the EEA Agreement must be renegotiated.

219 new police officers – only 16 on the streets (Aftenposten/Saturday)

In the past two years 219 new police officers have been employed by the Oslo police district, but only 16 of them have been allocated to patrolling the streets. According to the police force’s own calculations a large number of the new recruits have been used for prisoner escort duty. From 1998 to 2000 Oslo’s political authorities granted increasing sums of money to reduce street violence and create a safer city.

PM has broken tax pledge (Verdens Gang/Sunday)

When he took office Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg promised he would lower the level of taxes in Norway, if only the tax base were made broad enough. But he has not managed to do so. The Labour Party has failed to keep a large number of other promises it made when it came into power. Tax increases are one of the main reasons inflation rose by 4.3 per cent in the past year. 0.6 per cent of the rise in prices is a direct result of the increase in VAT from 23 to 24 per cent, which the Labour Party and the centre parties are together responsible for.

More criticism for Hermansen (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Telenor chairman Eivind Reiten has criticized the company’s chief executive, Tormod Hermansen, for publicly announcing proposals for a share issue without talking to the board first. Trade and Industry Minister Grete Knudsen was hauled over the coals by the Storting for having told Aftenposten that Tormod Hermansen needed a lesson in manners. Ms Knudsen admitted she was wrong to have made the comment, and claimed she did so in a moment of anger.

Worth Noting

• Purchasers of Statoil shares must be prepared for the possibility of a sharp fall in oil prices, according to professor Øystein Noreng of the Norwegian School of Management (BI). If oil prices fall by USD 10 compared to today’s level Statoil’s profits will be cut by around NOK 6 billion. (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)
• Over half the employees and pensioners of Statoil’s parent company have bought shares in the oil company, which is officially launched on the stock market tomorrow. (Aftenposten/Sunday)
• When Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Russia his message was crystal clear. Norway has both the right and duty to establish environmental protection regulations for Svalbard and the seas surrounding it, and this is not an issue which is up for discussion with Russia. (Dagsavisen)
• Grete Berge was promised the job of spokeswoman for the Prime Minister. The day before her appointment was due to be announced she was turned down for the post because Jens Stoltenberg felt the job was too demanding for a mother with two small children. (Verdens Gang)
• The Storting’s Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs Committee could not agree on a vote of no confidence in Children and Family Affairs Minister Karita Bekkemellom Orheim. The committee toned down its initial criticism and chose instead to look in general at the way the Adoption Act is applied in practice. (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• One in three Norwegians believes that too many refugees and asylum-seekers are granted residency permits in Norway, according to figures published by the Central Bureau of Statistics. (Aftenposten)
• Farmers can breathe a sigh of relief after the new VAT regulations were announced yesterday. Farmers will still receive payment for their produce including full VAT. The half-rate of VAT will be applied after the produce has left the farmer and before it reaches the consumer. (Nationen/Saturday)
• In Finnmark almost one in six mothers is bringing up her children on her own. This is almost twice as high as the national average, according to figures Dagbladet has compiled from the Medical Register of Births. (Dagbladet)

Today’s comment from Dagsavisen

When Statoil is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange for the first time at 10 o’clock this morning, it will be a great day for the Norwegian stock market. But is it also a great day for Norway? Statoil has been 100 per cent state owned since the Labour government of Trygve Bratteli established the company around 30 years ago. Statoil’s mission has not only been to earn money for its owner. It was also a tool to shape the nation’s oil policy. There have been many political battles over Statoil, but on the whole the company has stood the test. The Labour government of Jens Stoltenberg has now sent Statoil onto the stock markets of Oslo and New York, which shows that today’s Labour Party has abandoned its former view of state ownership in relation to the country’s oil policy and Statoil’s primary mission. Statoil can no longer be used as a political tool by the Government and the Storting in their efforts to mould oil policy. The company’s main objective from now on will be to earn a handsome profit for its owners – both the state and the company’s many private investors. In future Statoil will come to resemble its foreign competitors. The Storting has decided that a maximum of 23 per cent of Statoil’s shares may be held by private investors. If the flotation is a financial success, and that is the whole point of the exercise, the pressure to raise that limit will be so strong the Government will probably give way. This is the political price for a stock market listing.