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USD 1 = NOK 6.80 No. 19 - 8 June 1993
CONTENTS:
Hammond's resignation no surprise (1)
3 billion dollar refurbishment of Ekofisk? (2)
Joint Nordic bourse (3)
Head of central bank optimistic (4)
Northeast Passage agreement signed in Oslo (5)
No refugee flood from Kola (6)
New life for diabetics (7)
Major Munch paintings on show in Lillehammer (8)
"Super radar" will scan arctic ozone layer (9)
Should UN take over the IOC? (10)
Volvo deal for Dyno (10)
norinform/1 8 June 1993
HAMMOND'S RESIGNATION NO SURPRISE
"I am not surprised that Philip Hammond is resigning as chairman of the
International Whaling Commission's (IWC's) scientific committee," says
Jan Arvesen, Norwegian whaling commissioner. "Norway could hardly have
received a more positive signal that the arguments it has forwarded in
the whaling dispute are correct," he adds. Arvesen maintains that
Hammond is far from being the only one to react with irritation to the
fact that the IWC has become a whale protection organization rather than
a body whose mission is to manage whaling operations to the extent that
these are defensible. His views are supported by Professor Lars Walloee,
a Norwegian member of the scientific committee.
Hammond made his decision against the outcome of the recent IWC meeting
in Kyoto, Japan. Prior to the meeting, a unanimous scientific committee
had submitted its proposal on management procedures for whaling. One of
its conclusions was that minke whale populations are sufficient to
tolerate traditional whaling off the coast of Norway. In Hammond's
opinion, this, and other proposals were never put to serious debate.
The scientific committee is the main organ of the IWC. Some 100
scientists work for the committee, which puts forward the premises for
the work of the Commission. Philip Hammond, who lives in Cambridge, is
employed at the Sea Mammal Research Unit, an institute corresponding to
the Norwegian Polar Research Institute.
norinform/2 8 June 1993
3 BILLION DOLLAR REFURBISHMENT OF EKOFISK?
The Phillips Group is planning a new export centre for oil and gas on
the Ekofisk field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. If the plan
is realized the centre will be the hub of Norwegian oil and gas exports
for the next 50 years. The project is estimated to cost USD 2.9 billion
and is scheduled for completion by 1997-98.
Phillips is believed to have shelved its plans for the future use of the
Ekofisk tank, which lies in an area where the seabed is subsiding at a
rate of 35 centimetres a year. On account of this, the Petroleum
Directorate has demanded a closure of the tank from 1995 to 1996. But
rather than repair the tank, Phillips has decided to create a new centre
which will be located outside the zone of subsidence. In addition, a
new platform for the processing of oil and gas may be built close to the
present Ekofisk centre.
Investments in the new installations will be so large that there is
little chance of writing them off before the expiry of the concession
period in 2011. For this reason, Phillips will probably suggest a
development based on the lifetime of the field. It therefore hopes to
have the concession period lengthened.
To date more than USD 10 billion has been invested in the seven fields
of the Ekofisk area. A major new investment will be worth the outlay,
as there are still reserves worth upwards of USD 14 - 28 billion left in
Ekofisk.
The operator on Ekofisk is Phillips, while Fina, Agip, Elf and Total
have the biggest shares.
norinform/3 8 June 1993
JOINT NORDIC BOURSE
A joint Nordic securities market is to be established - most likely next
year. According to the newspaper Aftenposten, representatives from the
Oslo Bourse and the Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki stock exchanges
are in the process of agreeing on a joint trading system.
The chief reason for cooperation is to counteract the concentration of
trade in, for example, major Norwegian stocks - particularly on the
London market. The Nordic exchanges also hope to adapt to the new
realities posed by EEA and EC membership.
"The Nordic stock exchanges have much in common, and combined represent
a considerable share of European bourse activities. Active cooperation
will boost their competitiveness, says acting director at the Oslo
Bourse, Kjell Froensdal. "Although current securities trading between the
Nordic countries is limited, there is clearly a potential for
development. This should be kept in mind when evaluating future
perspectives," says Froensdal. He emphasizes that the bourses will not
merge, and the Oslo Bourse will continue. The Nordic plan involves an
interactive trading system.
norinform/4 8 June 1993
HEAD OF CENTRAL BANK OPTIMISTIC
"Households and companies in Norway will be more capable of covering the
state's major loan requirements in coming years, " said the Governor of
Norges Bank, Hermod Skaanland in a recent address to the association of
social economists. Skaanland, who drew an optimistic picture of Norwegian
economy and of the finance sector, anticipated a moderate economic
upswing in the years leading up to 1997. He also said that real estate
prices are on the way up. If interest rates continue to fall as they
have done recently, it should be possible to close the 15 per cent gap
between the prices of new and older houses during the next two to three
years, he said.
Skaanland also stated that the banks will have their balance sheets
substantially enhanced through increased private saving. They can thus
reduce most of their financing from special deposits and the money
market, while improving their interest differential. This will result
in a clear improvement in profits in the years to come.
Even without increased oil prices, Norway's balance of payments should
show healthy surpluses. Skaanland estimates that the operational balance
on current accounts will reach USD 7.3 to 8.8 billion in 1997, though
this is dependent on a continued rising trend and stable prices.
Skaanland also made his first open contribution to the EC debate.
"Joining the EEA is not good enough; Norway must become a full EC member
if Sweden does the same," said the Governor of Norges Bank.
norinform/5 8 June 1993
NORTHEAST PASSAGE AGREEMENT SIGNED IN OSLO
Research institutes in Norway, Russia and Japan have agreed to look into
the possibilities for commercial shipping through the Northeast Passage,
the sea route from the Barents Sea, through the waters north of Siberia
and ending in the Pacific. A research agreement was signed in Oslo on 25
May by representatives of the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen Institute, the
Russian Central Marine Research & Design Institute in St.Petersburg and
the Japanese Ship & Ocean Foundation.
Norway and Japan are to contribute USD 794,000 each. The Russian
contribution,
-in the form of financial resources, and access to data and services -
is put at USD 735,000.
The Northeast Passage has been closed to international ships traffic
since before the revolution of 1917 and the establishment of the
research programme is taken as an official confirmation that the re-
opening of the seaways route can be realized.
In the summer of 1991, Western and Soviet scientists completed a study
which concluded that it should be possible to open a northern sea route
between the Atlantic and the Pacific around the turn of the century.
This passage is shorter than the route through the Suez Canal. The trip
will normally take 18-20 days, as against 34-36 days via the Suez Canal.
norinform/6 8 June 1993
NO REFUGEE FLOOD FROM KOLA
Living conditions on Russia's Kola peninsula are poor, but no immediate
flood of refugees is expected. Only three per cent of the 1.16 million
people inhabiting Kola seriously consider emigrating to Norway or
Finland. But if the situation gets worse, refugees could pour across the
borders, concludes Erik Hansen, a researcher at the Norwegian Trade
Union Centre for Social Science and Research (FAFO). In collaboration
with its Russian division, the Centre has recently issued a report after
its comprehensive study of living conditions on Kola. The survey,
conducted in Murmansk, Nikel and Sveromorsk, indicates that 40 per cent
of the population lives below the poverty level and spends nearly all
its income on food.
The study was commissioned jointly by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs
and Defence after the Soviet Union was dissolved and preliminary
accounts of Russian poverty led authorities to fear a massive
emigration. No such threat seems likely, but the head of FAFO, Terje Roed
Larsen, stresses the need for western economic help. He points out that
Norway and other countries have a direct national security interest in
contributing to Russia's development.
FAFO carried out standard of living studies two years ago in Lithuania,
Moscow and St. Petersburg. Next in line are new studies of living
standards in the three Baltic countries and in the Russian enclave
Kaliningrad. The Centre also hopes to reach agreement with authorities
in Belarus on a similar study.
norinform/7 8 June 1993
NEW LIFE FOR DIABETICS
"A new life could be possible for the country's 20,000 diabetics," says
Bjoernar Algott who heads an association for Norwegians with the disease.
Algott's statement was made after an American, Stephen Craig, was
surgically provided with an artificial pancreas which produces insulin
in response to the body's needs. The operation was performed in Los
Angeles. Craig's artificial gland consists of minute alginat spheres
which contain living insulin-producing cells. The alginat spheres- which
absorb blood sugar while releasing insulin - were developed by
researchers in Trondheim.
However, diabetics are warned against being overly optimistic. The
operation in the USA was experimental, and the method cannot become
routine for at least another five years. Professor Olav Smidsroed and Dr.
Gudmund Skjaak-Braek at the Department of Biotechnology, as well as
Professor Terje Espevik at the Cancer Research Institute - all at the
University of Trondheim - stress that the operation still entails
considerable risks.
Stephen Craig's artificial pancreas contains insulin-producing human
cells. Researchers will now transplant similar cells from pigs. If
successful, the method can be duplicated on a broader basis. New cells
will probably have to be implanted in patients twice a year. Currently,
diabetes patients use about USD 2,000 annually on blood sugar
measurements, insulin and hypodermic needles. The operations may not be
any cheaper, but they will provide a better and freer life.
norinform/8 8 June 1993
MAJOR MUNCH PAINTINGS ON SHOW IN LILLEHAMMER
A number of the monumental works of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, from
the period between 1909 and 1930, have been put on show in the new art
museum at Lillehammer, host town of the coming Winter Olympics. The
Munch exhibition will be a major attraction of the pre-Olympic cultural
programme, which will run until 22 August this year. It is many years
since several of these works have been on show in Norway.
Most of the 96 pictures belong to the Munch Museum in Oslo, but some of
them have been borrowed from Denmark and Japan. Maximum security
arrangements will be put into operation. " The pictures are, after all,
worth several hundred million kroner," says Per Bjarne Boym, curator of
the Lillehammer municipality's art collection.
Among the largest and most decorative of the Munch works are the
artist's preliminary sketches to "History" (228 x 710 cm) and "The Sun"
(308 x 500 cm). The finished paintings now form part of the murals
decorating the University Aula in Oslo. Though some of them were
regarded as controversial at the time, they mark the artist's final
breakthrough in Norway.
"Munch is Munch, notwithstanding. His interest in the spiritual life,
angst and relationships between human beings permeates all he paints.
But we also want to show how he worked on his monumental projects and
what happened during the process," says Gerd Woll, assistant curator at
the Munch Museum. During the period of the exhibition, a particularly
handsome book on Munch's monumental works, written in both English and
Norwegian, will be issued; Gerd Woll has written the main essay in this
book.
norinform/9 8 June 1993
"SUPER RADAR" WILL SCAN ARCTIC OZONE LAYER
As a part of the so-called EISCAT project, Norway's Minister of
Education, Research and Church Affairs, Gudmund Hernes, recently laid
the foundation stone for the new civilian research radar at
Longyearbyen, the main settlement on Norway's Svalbard archipelago. The
radar centre will play an important part in research on the ozone layer
above Svalbard. It is estimated to cost about USD 17 million and is
scheduled for completion by 1995-96.
EISCAT (The European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association), has for
the last decade been carrying out basic research with the aim of
increasing current knowledge of the dynamic conditions in the upper
polar atmosphere, with particular emphasis on how these conditions are
affected by the Northern Lights. Present research work is carried out at
large, specially built radar installations in Tromsoe, Norway, Kiruna,
Sweden and Sodankylae, Finland. With the aid of a special dispersion
technique scientists can study the atmosphere up to a distance of 90
kilometres in all directions. Great Britain, France and Germany are
contributing both researchers and funds, and the Japanese are
considering making a contribution towards the erection of an extra
antenna which will help double the power of the installation.
Most of the Norwegian involvement is channeled through the physics
section of the Northern Lights Observatory Library, which belongs to the
University of Tromsoe.
norinform/10 8 June 1993
SHOULD UN TAKE OVER THE IOC?
The United Nations should take over the International Olympic Committee,
(IOC), says the president of Norway's national assembly, Jo Benkow. His
view is supported by, among others, the president of the Norwegian
Confederation of Sports, William Engseth, who says that he will put the
proposal before the IOC via the Norwegian Olympic Committee. The
proposal was considered necessary in order to change the culture which
the IOC has now created around the Olympic Games.
VOLVO DEAL FOR DYNO
Plastics and commercial explosives concern Dyno Industrier AS has signed
a deal which will make the firm sole supplier of plastic petrol tanks
for Volvo's 800- and 900 series of cars. The contract also covers
deliveries for the new 850 series, which is now being manufactured at
Volvo's plant in Ghent, Belgium. The deal - a long-term agreement - is
worth nearly USD 12 million.
The manufacture of petrol tanks for Volvo, Ghent will take place at
Dyno's Belgian subsidiary Scorplast. Dynoplast, of Kongsvinger, signed
a corresponding contract last year for supplies for Volvo's Swedish
production of the 850 model.
.