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USD 1 = NOK 6.70 No. 04 - 2 February 1993
CONTENTS:
SAS jockeying for a place in the big five (1)
Brundtland discussed environment and health at the White House (2)
Immigration again in focus (3-4)
Plan to seal off radioactive parts of sunken sub (5)
The EC debate continues in Norway (6)
Norwegian technology to Gulf and China (7)
USD 1.5 million for whaling information (8)
"Concrete support" for unemployed in Bergen (9)
New phone numbers in Norway (10)
norinform/1 2 February 1993
SAS JOCKEYING FOR A PLACE IN THE BIG FIVE
The Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) is considering starting formal talks
with KLM, Swissair and Austrian Airlines with a view to a possible
strategic alliance. After a recent joint statement from the companies on
the subject of their negotiations, SAS stock immediately rose on the
bourses of the Scandinavian capitals.
Although little specific information on the aim of the talks has been
released, it is well known that SAS's pronounced goal since 1967 has been to
be "one of five in 1995" - in other words, one of the five dominant
airlines in Europe. Many believe that there are unlikely to be more than five
survivors in the cut-throat competition which is expected when European
concession laws no longer apply. But getting a place among the big five
necessitates cooperation with one or more other airlines in order to
achieve maximum operational strength.
Swissair, KLM and Austrian Arlines would appear to be of the same mind.
If there is a fusion of the four, the resulting airline, with the proposed
name European World Airlines, would be the biggest in Europe, with about 350
aircraft and a 20 per cent market share. Air France, at present the
Continent's biggest carrier, has a 16 per cent share.
The Minister of Transport and Communications, Kjell Opseth - who has
previously advocated a merger between SAS and the Norwegian carrier
Braathens SAFE says that it is too early to make any comment on the
proposed alliance. While Danish SAS employees fear for their jobs if the
merger becomes effective, trade unions in the Norwegian division of SAS
believe that it could strengthen the concern.
(norinform)
norinform/2 2 February 1993
BRUNDTLAND DISCUSSED ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH AT THE WHITE HOUSE
Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland spoke with Vice President Al Gore,
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Congressional members at her
visit to Washington D.C. at end January. She advocated an increase in
American duties on oil and petrol as a contribution to a healthier
environment and a more solid fiscal budget. "It is difficult for
Europeans to understand how the issue of oil and petrol duties can be so
controversial in the USA," said Brundtland. She pointed out that petrol
prices in the United States are only a quarter of prices in Norway, and that
the average American's carbon dioxide emissions are three times as high
as the average Norwegian's contribution to such discharges. "The United
States can undoubtedly contribute considerably to the solution of this
global problem," said the Norwegian Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister also had an opportunity to discuss the issue with
Vice President Al Gore, who is considered to be the new
Administration's most environmentally conscious politician. Brundtland
conveyed her opinion that President Clinton's policies, still in the
process of being formulated, "are promising for extended cooperation between
Norway and the USA."
The Norwegian Prime Minister, a doctor of medicine with a Harvard degree
in public health, spoke with Hillary Clinton who is leading a health reform
task force. Brundtland told her that Norway's socialized health service costs
7.5 per cent of the country's GDP, about half the USA's rate.
(norinform)
norinform/3-4 2 February 1993
IMMIGRATION AGAIN IN FOCUS
Current political debate in Norway is marked by a strong exchange of opinions
onthe subject of immigration policy. The ball was set in motion when
leading spokesmen for the far-right Party of Progress said that
immigration should be treated like any other political issue in the run-up
to the general election this autumn. Party leader Carl I.Hagen advocates
more restrictive practices,for example with regard to the reunification of
families and more emphasis on integration into the local community.
According to Hagen, refugees should accept the condition that they must
return to their homeland as soon as the situation there has improved.
Another party member, Professor Fridtjof Frank Gundersen, a Storting
representative was recently renominated after pronouncements that "too many
people with a different cultural and religious background can give rise to
conflict and antagonism".
"There is nothing wrong with focusing on national identity. On the other
hand, nationalism which is turned against immigrants as individuals
and causes persecution is repugnant. Progress Party members who are
guilty of violence against immigrants will be excluded from the party," says
Carl I.Hagen.
Leaders of every political party in the national assembly reject
Hagen's viewpoints. The comment from Kjell Magne Bondevik, head of the
Christian Democrats, is representative of their reactions. "Hagen is making
refugees and asylum seekers into shuttlecocks in election propaganda. We no
longer have job immigration to Norway. Those who are allowed to stay are
quota refugees, asylum seekers with good reason to be accepted, close family
members and a few people who are approved on humanitarian grounds. Which
of these groups does Hagen want to exclude?" queries Bondevik.
norinform/4 2 February 1993
Hagen was also rebuffed by the present deputy chairman of the party, Tor
Mikkel Wara, and the former deputy chairman, Paal Atle Skjervengen. "Hagen's
statement is neither extreme nor specially remarkable. What I do fear is
that some people could interpret it differently, seeing it perhaps as a
call for repatriating immigrants," says Wara. "The fact is that Norwegian
immigration policy is highly restrictive," Wara adds. But Hagen was backed by
a majority of his leading party fellows at county level, who consider his
statements "courageous". Researchers have previously pointed out that the
Party of Progress won some voters over at the last election by
concentrating on immigration policies. One third of Norwegians are
sceptical to immigrants, they claim.
Hagen's words were naturally received with acclaim by representatives of
the most extreme racist groupings. "Hagen is saying what I have been saying
for the last ten years," says Arne Myrdal, head of an organization which is
vehemently opposed to immigration.
While debate rages, information has been released which shows that
racist agitators usually go unpunished in Norway. The newspaper Vaart Land
informs that 180 violations of ant-racism legislation have been investigated
during the last five years. In only seven instances were charges brought
against the offender; the other cases were dismissed.
(norinform)
norinform/5 2 February 1993
PLAN TO SEAL OFF RADIOACTIVE PARTS OF SUNKEN SUB
A Norwegian firm, Sonsub in Stavanger, has presented a plan to seal off
the radioactive sections of the sunken Russian submarine "Komsomolets"
which sank northwest of Bjoernoeya in the Barents Sea in April 1989.
Fourty-two of the crew died in the accident, on what was the Soviet
Union's most advanced nuclear powered submarine. The problem with the
wreckage is that it includes two nuclear torpedoes armed with plutonium and
the vessel itself was powered by a nuclear reactor. A controversy has
arisen regarding the submarine's potential threat to the marine environment,
from its resting place, 1,700 metres below the surface. "The plan is to
cover the radioactive parts of the sub with cement," explains project leader
Einar Ramstad at Sonsub. By using advanced undersea technology and 3,000
cubic metres of special cement, the company claims that it could retard
potential radioactive contamination. "The special cement shield will
protect against contamination for several hundred years," claims Ramstad.
Russian authorities have previously estimated that a salvage job would cost
USD 120 million, but Sonsub says that with its plan, 6 million dollars
should suffice. The Komsomolets Foundation, a group of Dutch and Russian
authorities established to deal with the safety hazards of the sunken sub,
will take a close look at the Norwegian plans.
(norinform)
norinform/6 2 February 1993
THE EC DEBATE CONTINUES IN NORWAY
The issue of Norwegian EC membership is currently the main theme of
political debate in Norway. Gallup polls indicate that in January 45 per cent
were against Norwegian EC membership, while 28 per cent were in favour. The
organizations The European Movement in Norway and No to the EC are currently
stepping up their activities. The European Movement has just elected a
new leader - professor of theology Inge Loenning, who is former rector of the
University of Oslo.
Lars Peder Brekk, the recently elected deputy leader of the agrarian
Centre Party, has departed completely from party policy be saying that it
will be necessary to accept a simple majority in the upcoming
referendum on EC membership. The Centre Party's stance has been that it will
not accept Norwegian EC membership, regardless of the result of the vote.
Norway and the EC Commission have approached the issue of the Norwegian
State Wine and Liquor Monopoly, which has the exclusive right to retail
the more potent alcoholic beverages in Norway. Strong forces want to retain
the Monopoly if Norway becomes an EC member, although it is doubtful whether
the EC would accept this. Also, the Norwegian Association for Hunters and
Anglers fears that snaring of grouse would be forbidden, and that a number
of birds and animals which are now hunted would become protected species.
"Current EC directives are very much coloured by the situation in the
southern part of Europe," claims the Association in a letter to Prime
Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. (norinform)
norinform/7 2 February 1993
NORWEGIAN TECHNOLOGY TO GULF AND CHINA
Norwegian technology is to help clear the air in the Persian Gulf. The Oslo
firm ABB Miljoe Norsk Viftefabrikk was recently awarded a contract to
deliver anti-pollution equipment to Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) for USD 30
million. The contract was a follow-up of USD 75 million in earlier deliveries
to Alba. In addition, the Oslo-based firm is a leading contender for
another big Alba contract when the aluminium plant implements its next
expansion plans.
The equipment removes 99 per cent of toxic gasses and particles from the
plant's emissions. Fluoride compounds are extracted from the discharges
and recycled into the production process.
Advanced technology in a different sphere has helped a Trondheim-based
company, Stentofon, land a comprehensive and long-term contract with
Chinese railway authorities. The deal entails deliveries worth at least
USD 3 million annually for the next 20 years. The Chinese system includes
about 6,000 railway stations which will be equipped with new
telecommunications hardware. Stentofon's systems will satisfy needs for
internal communications and will eventually be integrated into Chinas's
public telecom net.
The agreement with the Chinese Railways was recently signed at the
Norwegian Trade Council's office in Beijing in a ceremony attended by
Norway's ambassador to China.
(norinform)
norinform/8 2 February 1993
USD 1.5 MILLION FOR WHALING INFORMATION
Norwegian authorities are willing to spend USD 1.5 million annually to
spread information on the country's whaling policy. Helga Hernes, state
secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says that the intention is to
prevent damage to Norway's economy when commercial whaling is resumed this
summer. The chief goal of the campaign is to promote understanding
for Norway's position among decision-makers and other influential
people in major countries. Another objective is to prevent sanctions,
particularly in the United States.
The Ministry is hiring an American PR bureau to feed the American media
with news and background information about Norway and Norwegian whaling.
Similar plans are being made to hire public relations firms in Germany
and the UK to influence environmental organizations. As a link in the
campaign, foreign correspondents will be invited to the Lofoten archipelago
to meet whalers.
The Norwegian Trade Council has expressed its concern to the Government
about the decision to resume commercial whaling. Whalers, however, counter
that their trade is of vital national importance.
During a meeting with the US national press club in Washington on 28
January, Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland accused the USA of "double
standards" when environmentalists criticize what she believes is a
scientifically based Norwegian decision to resume commercial whaling, while
overlooking the hunting of endangered whale species off Alaska. At a later
meeting with Vice President Al Gore, the whaling issue was not raised.
(norinform)
norinform/9 2 February 1993
"CONCRETE SUPPORT" FOR UNEMPLOYED IN BERGEN
Hundreds who are out of work in the Bergen district can look forward to jobs
now that Norsk Hydro has awarded Kvaerner Concrete Construction (KCC) the
task of building the concrete gravity base structure for the Troll platform.
The USD 300 million contract will occupy a good thousand employees at
Hanoeytangen on the outskirts of Bergen and the ripple effect could
provide Norway's second biggest city with 4,000 jobs. The deal will also
create several hundred jobs at Kvaerner Rosenberg in Stavanger, which has
contracted to fit the 145,000 tonne platform with its mechanical equipment.
KCC spokesmen say that job training programmes are under way and that groups
of a hundred unemployed at a time are being given refresher courses
and qualification tests. Residents of the Bergen area are receiving priority
because of the city's high unemployment rate.
The fortunate news for Kvaerner was bad for Norwegian Contractors (NC), which
had bid on an alternative steel support structure for the Troll platform.
Managing Director Ivar O. Schjetlein at KCC says that in the future, his
company's goal will be more a question of winning the battle between concrete
and steel than beating its well-established but troubled rival, NC.
This entails gaining international acceptance for Norway's special competence
in concrete production and structural engineering. Doris Engineering in
Paris will be subcontracted by Kvaerner to help in planning and design of the
concrete construction. The rest of the engineering work will be led by
Kvaerner's teams in Oslo and Stavanger.
(norinform)
norinform/10 2 February 1993
NEW PHONE NUMBERS IN NORWAY
Did you try to ring someone in Oslo on Thursday 28 January between 4 and
4.15 p.m. and couldn't get through? The answer is simple. Practically
all phone calls in this period were stopped in connection with the
transition to new 8-digit telephone numbers. The Oslo area is the first to
take the new numbers into use but the rest of the country will follow
suit within the course of the year. The change will consist of replacing
the former area codes with new numbers - in the case of Oslo, 22. The
rest of the number will be the same as before.
The change-over has been planned since 1987. A new system was needed
because the old numbering plan, which had a capacity of 8,000,000
numbers was not sufficent to accommodate the explosive growth in
telecommunications services. When the new system has been implemented there
will be 80,000,000 numbers at disposal. According to the State Telegraph
Administration this puts Norway, with its 4.3 million people, firmly at the
top of the European league, ahead of countries such as France and
Germany.
In addition to boosting capacity, continuous adjustments will be made to
the telecommunications network in the rest of Europe. Next year, new
special numbers will be added. On 12 January 1994, Norway will link up
to the 112 system, the new standardized emergency number for Europe.
Overseas visitors in Norway should also note that at the end of this year
they must dial 00 before the code of the country they wish to ring to, and
not 095, as at present.
(norinform)
.