Norway grants aid for Russian air pollution clean-up (Aftenposten/Saturday)

The people of Finnmark can finally look forward to the day when the "death clouds from the East" no longer blow in from Russia. Norway has decided to pay out NOK 44 million of the NOK 270 million set aside in 1990 to reduce emissions of sulphur dioxide from mining activity in Nikel, northeast Russia, by 90 per cent. The NOK 270 million was granted by the Syse government in 1990, but the money has not been touched since then because Norway has been uncertain as to whether the Russians themselves would stump up an equal amount.

Forget lower interest rates (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)

Despite Finance Minister Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen’s own warning that increased spending of Norway’s oil revenues will lead to a rise in interest rates, he is planning to do just that next year. And he refuses to promise that his actions will not lead to a jump in interest rates. "The Government is very concerned to avoid putting pressure on interest rates," said Mr Schjøtt-Pedersen yesterday when he presented the Government’s revised national budget for 2001. He emphasized that the increased spending included in the budget would lead to higher interest rates, explaining that shortages of labour and increased costs would quickly result in both higher prices and higher wages. The Government’s fiscal credibility is worn thin, says a united opposition. They want to spend more and cut taxes at the same time.

Gas negotiations with Poland (Aftenposten)

Representatives for Statoil and the Polish gas monopoly POGC meet today in an attempt to save Norwegian gas sales to Poland. At stake is a contract worth NOK 5 billion per year. There are strong indications that there will be a change of government in Poland in September. According to opposition spokesman Wieslaw Kaczmarek, Poland does not need a gas agreement with Norway. He argues that Norwegian gas is too expensive. Supplies of gas to Poland could lead to the construction of a new pipeline from Kårstø in Norway to Poland. Such a pipeline would open the way for gas deliveries to southern Norway, Sweden and Denmark, which represent completely new markets for Norwegian gas.

Liberals want centre alliance coalition (Nationen)

The Liberals approach the forthcoming general election with the aim of winning six per cent of the vote and with two preferred government alternatives. The Liberals’ first choice is a new centre alliance coalition with the Christian Democrats and the Centre Party, but they are willing to join a coalition with the Conservatives if that is what is needed to oust the Labour Party. The Liberal Party’s annual conference adopted a number of resolutions on moral issues which could put relations with the Christian Democrats to the test. Among other things, the Liberals voted in favour of disestablishing the Church of Norway. On the other hand they voted in support of the additional cash benefit for the under-threes, a key issue for the Christian Democrats.

Conservatives promise more cash for nursery sector than Labour (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

The Conservatives have joined the race to become the "nursery care party", and are calling for an immediate increase in nursery funding. However, the centre alliance parties seem happy with the Government’s promise to cut nursery fees by around NOK 200 a month. The question of nursery care looks like becoming the election campaign’s hottest issue. The Labour Party would like to come out number one, but now the Conservatives have joined the race to be the most generous when it comes to funding nursery care. In its revised national budget, which was published yesterday, the Government is proposing a 10 per cent increase in state grants, which would lead to a NOK 150-200 per month cut in the fees payable by parents. This is not enough, according to Conservative Party spokesman, Per-Kristian Foss.

Expensive advice for Telenor flotation (Aftenposten/Sunday)

Trade and Industry Minister Grete Knudsen paid NOK 55 million to Deutsche Bank for advice in connection with the controversial flotation of Telenor’s shares. The Ministry thinks the fee is acceptable, and that the money was well spent. However, the Ministry does not actually have the cash to pay the Germans and is now asking the Storting to approve additional funding. The Government excuses the record fee, by saying it was difficult to find anyone to do the job.

Huge jump in number of criminals waiting to serve time (Aftenposten)

Norway does not have enough prison capacity for all convicted criminals to serve their time immediately after sentencing. The number of people waiting in line to serve their sentences has jumped by 50 per cent since January last year. This is despite the authorities’ best efforts to get criminals put away as quickly as possible after conviction. The prison service has become a major bottleneck, with the closure of cells, renovation work and personnel vacancies contributing most to the substantial growth in the queue of people waiting to serve their time. The situation is worst in the south-eastern part of the country.

Worth Noting

• Experts from the market research companies, Opinion and Norsk Gallup, describe as strange and unusual the participation of Customs Officers at the Svinesund border crossing between Norway and Sweden in a survey of Norwegians’ shopping habits in Sweden. This may have led to people admitting to buying fewer goods than they actually had stashed in the back of their cars. (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• On Monday former US President and super-communicator Bill Clinton will give Norwegian businessmen a crash course in how they should manage their pennies – or dollars in Mr Clinton’s case. But for the company behind Mr Clinton’s visit, the advertising and PR company Dinamo, the event has turned into a financial headache. Dinamo’s chief executive, Ingebrigt Steen Jensen and his brave team of social analysts may lose up to NOK 600,000 on the high-class visit. There has not exactly been rush of interest in hearing Mr Clinton in person. (Verdens Gang/Saturday)
• The Labour Party’s Rune Gerhardsen has kicked off the election campaign by attacking what he described as "the tyranny of taxes". Mr Gerhardsen wants to help create a Norwegian version of "New Labour", which will ditch its image as a boring party whose focus is on regulating people’s lives and imposing new taxes. He has therefore invited voters to send him suggestions for taxes and public service charges which should be abolished. (Dagsavisen/Sunday)
• For the first time students in Norway will be able to study for a Master’s degree in international peace keeping and conflict management in Oslo. The degree is being developed by the Oslo University College in cooperation with the Diakonhjemmet Hospital and College, a foundation within the Church of Norway which offers education in nursing, social work and international development. Final details of the degree’s curriculum have not yet been finalized. (Dagsavisen)
• The market for organic foods in Norway is growing fast. Tine Meierier, the dairy products cooperative, has more than doubled its sales of organic dairy products in the past month. The cooperative retail chain, Coop, can barely keep up with demand. The Government has doubled its grants to organic farmers to NOK 150 million. (Vårt Land/Saturday)
• The leadership of the Labour Party has rejected outright the suggestion that Norway should evaluate the pros and cons of becoming a republic. In so doing they have run roughshod over Gunnar Skaug, president of the Odelsting, the largest division of the Norwegian Storting, who has given the proposal his backing. "The King’s role is described in about a quarter of the clauses in the country’s constitution. It would be illogical not to look at these provisions when the constitution is up for review anyway," said Mr Skaug. (Verdens Gang/Saturday)
• The market capitalization of companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange is six times greater than the 209 companies listed in Norway. The Oslo Stock Exchange is the smallest of all the Nordic stock exchanges. Last year’s stock market winners and losers in Oslo are Frontline, with a rise of 161.4 per cent, while Brøvig’s market capitalization fell by 91.1 per cent. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The political parties admit they will lose the battle for public attention as the wedding between Crown Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby approaches. Only weeks before polling day the Royal Family will put the Storting in the shade. (Dagbladet/Saturday)

Today’s comment from Verdens Gang

In an interview in yesterday’s Dagsavisen, the seventh-placed election candidate on the Labour Party’s Oslo list, Rune Gerhardsen, made a stinging attack on what he calls "the tyranny of taxes". Mr Gerhardsen wants to help create a Norwegian version of "New Labour" which will ditch its image as being a boring party whose focus is on regulating people’s lives and imposing new taxes. We doubt that Rune Gerhardsen is the right person to lead a revitalization of the Labour Party, but he has put his finger on an extremely relevant issue. It can hardly be a coincidence that the recent fall in the Labour Party’s popularity in the polls comes at the same time as the public are faced with what must be record high electricity bills. The cold winter and a new method for calculating electricity bills meant that families had to dig even deeper to find the cash to settle their accounts. When people get such a shock from one single utility charge, irritation over the generally high level of taxes and public service charges increases substantially. There are good indications that the centre right parties will make a strong showing in the election this autumn. Particularly noteworthy is the recent progress made by the Conservatives. If the Labour Party is to succeed in meeting this challenge it will probably not be able to avoid taking a close look at its tax policies. Rune Gerhardsen is quite right when he says that red tape and an unnecessarily large and tangled web of regulations make people’s day-to-day lives difficult. There is a lot to be done on that front, too. We believe the final comment Mr Gerhardsen made in the Dagsavisen interview is also right. People’s irritation with taxes and public service charges does not spring from the fact that they have become more selfish. Most of us have a well-developed sense of social justice. But there is a limit to what people will stand.