Fred Olsen takes Røkke to task (Dagens Næringsliv)

Shipping magnate and shipyard owner Fred Olsen is critical of Kjell Inge Røkke’s struggle to gain control of Kværner. "All he wants is to sell out and bank the proceeds. That is not the way to build the country," says Mr Olsen, who also takes Mr Røkke to task over his opulent lifestyle. Yesterday Mr Olsen attended the annual conference of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO), which focused on Europe. "Europe is the wrong subject. We should have discussed how we could use the Petroleum Fund to strengthen Norwegian companies with headquarters in Norway, instead of strengthening foreign firms and selling out our own," he adds.

PM Warns Against Renewed EU Conflict (Nationen)

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg warned against embarking on a new debate on EU membership, when he attended the NHO’s annual conference yesterday. "The EEA Agreement, special agreements on specific issues and freedom of action are our strategy now. We cannot have a situation where any question relating to the EU and Norway’s relationship with it must be treated as if we were discussing membership. Neither supporters nor opponents of membership will gain from such an stance. And it paralyzes our efforts in important EU matters. We cannot have a new fight over EU membership every day," warned Mr Stoltenberg. EU Commissioner Chris Patten was one of the keynote speakers at the NHO conference. He warned Norway not to take a "half in, half out" position with regard to the EU and wished us very welcome as members.

Threatens Labour Party with 1 May Boycott (Dagsavisen)

Kleiv Fiskvik, leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) in Oslo, has warned that the Labour Party could lose LO’s support for its election campaign and its invitation to speak on 1 May. The direct cause of the rift is the Labour Party in Oslo’s rejection of the LO’s Inger Lise Husøy as one of its candidates at the next general elections. "We had an understanding with the Norwegian Labour Youth League (AUF) regarding mutual support for our respective candidates, but AUF broke the agreement. The union movement has been undermined, and has never had such a weak position on the Labour Party’s Oslo list as now," says Mr Fiskvik.

Treatment Plant for Nuclear Waste in Russia costs Norway dear (Dagsavisen)

A treatment plant for liquid nuclear waste in Murmansk has turned into a costly white elephant for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Six years after the project was initiated the plant is still not operational. The USA had also provided funds for the project, but has now pulled out. The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, on the other hand, still believes that Norway should allocate more funds. A recent report on the crisis-hit Norwegian-American project in Murmansk reveals substantial budget overruns, a lack of cooperation and technical difficulties.

Cooperatives may move insurance to Cayman Islands (Nationen)

The Norwegian dairy and meat cooperatives, as well as other cooperative societies in Norway, may move their insurance premiums to a farmers-owned insurance consortium headquartered in the Cayman Islands. The Norwegian Agricultural Cooperative Society is considering amalgamating its general insurance requirements and could save millions of kroner by copying what the Danes have already done – set up an insurance company under the Caribbean palms.

Counties want to take over Higher Education Colleges (NTB)

A working committee composed of chairmen of the county councils has proposed that the counties take over responsibility for the country’s colleges of higher education, reports NRK, the Norwegian national broadcasting company. The Storting has already decided that the country’s hospitals will be transferred from the counties to central government control to improve health service efficiency. But the counties refuse to give up their power without getting something in return. The proposed transfer in the higher education sector has received a cool reception from those employed at the colleges affected.

Worth noting

• Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg believes the situation today is reminiscent of the period 1988-89, before the last EU debate got underway. "We stand at the crossroads between listening and leading," said Mr Stoltenberg at the NHO’s annual conference. (Klassekampen)
• Norwegian hospitals currently need an additional 1,100 PhD level doctors if the recommendations of the Research Council of Norway are to be followed. But the doctors do not want to do research, and that could lead to poorer medical treatment in the future. (Aftenposten)
• Companies providing sheltered workplaces for the handicapped intend to use their excess capacity to help more immigrants into the workforce. The companies have therefore contacted the Government and offered to give 2,000 jobless immigrants a year work experience and Norwegian language classes, reports NRK. (NTB)
• The rate of inflation last year was 3.1 per cent. This is the highest level since 1991, but the Norwegian Central Bank is keeping interest rates unchanged. (Aftenposten)
• John Fredriksen, who owns the world’s biggest oil tanker fleet, also plans to become a major player in the gas transport sector. He has invested NOK 1.65 billion to take control of Osprey Maritime, and plans to focus the Singapore based shipping line’s business on gas transport alone. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Torbjørn Lied, chairman of the Free Faculty of Theology (MF), was unaware of professor Jan-Olav Henriksen’s new views on homosexuality before he read Vårt Land on Wednesday. The MF’s board now plans to review professor Henriksen’s statement. (Vårt Land)
• From 1 January wine and other alcoholic beverages became legal as prizes in workplace lotteries. It has taken this long to implement a change in the law which was approved by the Storting in 1997. (Aftenposten)

Today’s Comment from Aftenposten

The Labour Party and the centre alliance have agreed to remove the business cycle tax that was to have been imposed on commercial property. The Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) applauds the move, and Finance Minister Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen is happy that "the centre alliance had the political will to abandon the tax". A whole industry will now avoid being hit as hard as the construction sector would have been if the tax had been implemented as planned. While we are happy that the budget partners from last autumn have come to their senses, it is depressing to see that presumably responsible politicians can introduce a tax which was so poorly thought through. The parliamentary majority simply did not understand the consequences of the decision it had made. Siv Jensen, the Progress Party’s economic policy spokesperson, was right when she said that "it was obvious to everyone else except the Labour Party and the centre alliance that the business cycle tax would have a negative impact and should never have been introduced". The majority in the Storting should be congratulated for finally facing up to reality. But the fact remains that hindsight is not a good alternative to foresight. The Storting should know what it is doing.