Telenor a fiasco on NASDAQ (Dagens Næringsliv)

So far Telenor has made a poor showing on the NASDAQ exchange. American investors are avoiding Telenor like the plague. Trade in Telenor shares on NASDAQ is microscopic, amounting to less than one per cent of overall equity capitalization in the USA. "This is surprisingly little," says CEO Anders Onarheim of the Carnegie brokerage firm.

Røkke wants two mergers (Dagens Næringsliv)

Kjell Inge Røkke and Aker Maritime want to merge Kværner’s oil and gas operations and shipbuilding activities with their own oil and gas operations and Aker RGI’s shipbuilding division. "We have presented the main elements of this plan to the key shareholders in Kværner," confirms Geir Arne Drangeid, chief information officer at Aker Maritime.

New testing routines to uncover mad cow disease (Dagsavisen)

The commotion over mad cow disease is likely to run rampant in Norway this coming year as veterinary authorities will be making all questionable test results public. The number of samples to be taken will rise sharply beginning this summer, and a large number of false alarms may try the patience of meat-loving Norwegians. The increase in testing comes in response to the positive test results obtained from animals in the EU. Since Norway is a member of the EEA, we are obliged to carry out the same tests. Knut Framstad, director of Norway Meat, supports a policy of complete openness with regard to the test results.

Employees worried about hospital reform (Aftenposten)

Over 6500 hospital employees are in danger of losing their rights as civil servants as a result of the hospital reform proposed by Minister of Health and Social Affairs Tore Tønne. They could lose a number of benefits and end up with poorer working conditions. The employees consider this situation unacceptable, and demand the right to maintain their current agreement with the government. If all hospital personnel are to be given the status of government employees, it would cost the taxpayers around NOK one billion. The Labour Party’s hospital reform is receiving broad support in the Storting.

NRK to cut 300 jobs (Aftenposten)

The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK, will be reducing its work force by 300 during the course of 2001. One third of the job has already been done. Most of the people losing their jobs are temporary or free-lance workers whose contracts are not being renewed. "I would say that we are well under way," says NRK personnel director Einar Li. Some departments have not yet begun the painful process of dismissals. A further one hundred jobs are to be eliminated before the summer begins.

King Harald is energy-conscious (Dagsavisen)

The royal family is also interested in reducing its electricity consumption. Energy-saving measures will lower the electricity bill paid by the Palace. Putting a cap on temperatures in a building that measures around 17 000 square metres offers substantial savings potential. "I think that in this connection the members of the royal family see themselves as ordinary consumers. And this means that they, too, are interested in saving energy," says Olav Bergem, manager of the Palace administration. New energy-saving measures are being introduced into Palace operations in connection with the comprehensive rehabilitation of the building that has been taking place.

Today’s Comment from Aftenposten:

Minister of Defence Bjørn Tore Godal is busy explaining, denying, criticizing, soothing, checking and limiting. He is explaining how the heads of the Norwegian defence administration have given information to personnel who are serving abroad. He is denying that depleted uranium has led to health problems. He is criticizing the fact that warnings against uranium from the USA and NATO were not relayed to the member countries immediately, and that the Norwegian armed forces did not inform all personnel as to the information received. In his statement to the Storting on Thursday, the Defence Minister finally did what should have been done long ago, not only here in Norway, but throughout NATO. Information – or, rather, the lack of information – concerning depleted uranium, its properties, its potentially harmful effects on health, and the research and investigations that have been carried out: all these have prompted a flood of allegations. This has caused anxiety and weakened people’s trust in the authorities. The first steps taken by the Norwegian Defence Forces in dealing with this situation have revealed a fundamental inability to acknowledge the problem. In this case, as in so many others, information is being withheld, either because of bureaucratic obstinacy or because of a deliberate policy of concealment meant to keep unpleasant truths from coming to light. In either case, the result is a situation conducive to anxiety and speculation. Openness is important.