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USD 1 = NOK 6.90 No. 21 - 22 June 1993
CONTENTS:
Holiday and election for national assembly (1-2)
Compromise on the Jan Mayen line (3)
Increase in salmon exports to Germany (4)
Skaanland to retire (5)
Interest rates still falling (6)
Mjoesa one of Europe's cleanest lakes (7)
Whale oil is good for the heart (8)
"Patriot" - sophisticated watchdog for automobiles (9)
Statoil will explore big new offshore field (10)
Statoil petrol for sale in Germany and Poland (10)
norinform/1-2 22 June 1993
HOLIDAY AND ELECTION FOR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
The Norwegian national assembly, the Storting, has started its holiday.
When it convenes again in October, an election will have been held
and the Storting could have a different political make-up - in part
because of the EC issue. The two parties that are most strongly opposed
to membership, the Socialist Left and the Centre Party, are expected to
gain at the ballot box. Recent polls show that the two biggest parties
- Labour and the Conservatives, who both support Norway's bid
for membership in the Community, are running a close race. Labour won 34
per cent of the vote in the 1989 election, but could be reduced by
6-8 percentage points this year. Polls indicate that the Conservatives
could improve their 22 per cent support by 3-5 percentage points in the
upcoming election.
Before the Storting broke up for the summer it was on the verge of a
crisis. Minister of Finance Sigbjoern Johnsen survived a no-confidence
motion proposed by the right wing opposition. However, he had to admit
to misinforming the Storting in connection with the Government's
treatment of the UNI Storebrand insurance company's attempted hostile
takeover of the big Swedish insurance firm Skandia.
Another problem involved the national assembly's position on
control of the intelligence community. A number of allegations have been
made - outside the Storting - concerning misconduct and illegal
surveillance of civilians by the military intelligence service. In a
compromise, a reluctant Labour Party was pressed to give the
Storting the right to appoint a watchdog committee, after a
.../...
norinform/2 cont. 22 June 1993
Government and Storting-appointed control commission reviews the
consequences. The new watchdog will oversee both the military
intelligence service and the National Security Police, and will
probably be appointed next spring.
Before recessing, The Storting failed to vote on, or pass, parts
of the Government's school reform package. The Government's plan to
start six-year-olds in the first grade passed, but not its wish to
extend mandatory education to ten years, from the present nine. The
Government expects the new Storting to pass that legislation next
autumn.
The Storting also completed its work on the revised fiscal budget after
clashing party interests led to a series of modifications. The
Government failed to receive support for significant cuts in the
budget deficit, as proposed by the so-called Kleppe committee. Many of
its proposals will be reconsidered in connection with the
Storting's debate on the 1994 fiscal budget toward year's end.
The Storting which closed last week was historic in many ways. Three of
its six presidents and vice-presidents were women: Vice President Kirsti
Kolle Groendahl and Odelsting (the larger division) presidents Tora
Aasland Houg and Inger Lise Gjoerv. The latter two are retiring from
the Storting to become regional commissioners in two of the
country's 19 counties. Storting President Jo Benkow is retiring and will
not run for re-election to the Storting in September.
norinform/3 22 June 1993
COMPROMISE ON THE JAN MAYEN LINE
The international court in the Hague gave neither Norway nor
Denmark full support on the issue of control over a 65,000 square
kilometre area of sea between East Greenland and Jan Mayen.
The Hague decision is a compromise which both countries find
acceptable. The area involved will be divided into three
zones - the one with the riches fisheries resources will be split down
the middle, while Norway will get slightly over 50 per cent of the
other two. The dispute started when Denmark implemented a 200 mile
territorial zone from the east coast of Greenland, and then Norway did
the same around Jan Mayen. Since the distance from coast to coast
is only 254 miles, Norway proposed that the line be drawn mid-way - but
the Danes wanted their whole zone.
"After a first look at the documents, I am pleased with the
result," says Minister of Foreign Affairs, Johan Joergen Holst. He
emphasized that this is a question of a very large and a very small
island - and the Norwegian one is the latter. "It is too early to say
whether the decision in the Hague will have any significance for the
negotiations with Russia on the Barents Sea delineation line. However,
we are interested in reaching a balanced and amicable solution there
too," Holst added.
Law Professor Carl August Fleischer - who since 1960 has advised the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs on matters in connection with border line
disputes - says that the Hague court normally favours such
compromises. Neither Norway nor Denmark has reason to be fully pleased -
but neither has suffered a real defeat.
norinform/4 22 June 1993
INCREASE IN SALMON EXPORTS TO GERMANY
Exports of Norwegian salmon to Germany increased in May, and it is
anticipated that the same will occur in June. Unless the effects come at
a later point, it does not seem that the boycotts on account of
the resumption of Norwegian commercial minke whaling will have big
consequences for fish exports. The Norwegian Trade Council
emphasizes that it is the retailers - and not the importers - who
are boycotting Norwegian products. Therefore, it could take some time
before sales decrease.
The May statistics reveal that 790 tonnes of fresh salmon were sold to
Germany, while 750 tonnes were sold in the same month last year. Sales
of frozen salmon were more than doubled - 134 tonnes, compared with
63 tonnes in May 1992. The Norwegian Seafood Export Council is
optimistic, and it is not especially concerned about prawn exports
to the U.K., although recently one of the biggest British importers -
Iceland Frozen Foods - cancelled a contract to buy Norwegian prawns for
a value of USD 1.5 million. In May 647 tonnes of prawns were sold to the
U.K., compared with 478 tonnes in the same month last year.
However, Norwegian Minister of Fisheries, Jan Henry T. Olsen, is being
cautious. At a meeting in Tokyo recently, he urged Japanese industry to
purchase Norwegian seafood products which risk being boycotted in
other countries. Otherwise, he said that he is pleased with Norway's
cooperation with the Japanese authorities, whom Olsen claims have also
given Norway good support in the whaling issue.
norinform/5 22 June 1993
SKAaNLAND TO RETIRE
The governor of Norges Bank, Hermod Skaanland (age 68), announced last
week that he would retire at year's end. The press is speculating
about Skaanland's successor. According to Aftenposten, the two most
likely candidates are Bjoern Skogstad Aamo and Tormod Hermansen. Aamo was
state secretary at the office of Prime Minister Brundtland until
recently, and is now head of the Banking, Insurance and Securities
Commission. Hermansen is the C.E.O. at the Norwegian Telecom and
also heads the Government Bank Guarantee Fund. In the past year he has
had responsibility for tackling the bank crisis. However, Hermansen
says that he has no intention of applying for the job.
Commenting on the announcement, Minister of Finance Sigbjoern Johnsen
praised the head of the central bank as "incredibly competent". Skaanland
is also lauded by financial policy spokesmen in the Storting.
"An independent person with considerable integrity and a major
Norwegian economic policy-maker," was one of the comments in the
national assembly. "It is pleasant that Skaanland is retiring at a time
when the country has mastered its currency problems and interest rates
are falling," stated the co-chairman of the Standing Committee on
Finance in the Storting, Karl Eirik Schoett-Pedersen.
A change in Governors of Norges Bank is a rare occurrence in Norway. In
the 100 years since the central bank received its first permanent
leader, only six have held the post. On the average the governors have
stayed on for 17 years.
norinform/6 22 June 1993
INTEREST RATES STILL FALLING
Economists at the Central Bureau of Statistics believe that interest
rates in Norway will continue to fall. According to the current
prognosis, rates will drop by up to 1.8 per cent in the coming
year. Although this is good news for those with big loans, for the
country as a whole - especially the unemployed - there is no real
reason to celebrate. Norway is currently experiencing stronger growth
than the other western industrialized countries, but with its
open economy Norway is dependent on prosperity in these nations to
get its wheels fully in motion.
The falling interest rates provide those with debts with more
spending money. However, given the tough economic times they have
encountered, it is expected that they will save most of their
surplus. Norwegians have been saving more and more of their incomes
recently - a trend expected to continue.
Private consumption will increase by 1.5 per cent this year, which is
slightly lower than the growth in 1992. In 1994, however, it is expected
to increase by 2.9 per cent, which should create a number of jobs.
However, two factors work contrary to a decrease in unemployment: low
growth in public consumption and a reduction in investments in
offshore activities.
Although there will be no increase in employment, the same people
will not necessarily be jobless. Changes in consumption patterns and
investments will determine which sectors prosper, and which are bound
for hard times.
norinform/7 22 June 1993
MJOeSA ONE OF EUROPE'S CLEANEST LAKES
Norway's biggest lake, Mjoesa, which stretches from Lillehammer to
Eidsvoll, was locally called 'pea soup' only 15 years ago.
Unchecked algae growth was killing the lake, once an inland highway
for Viking ships. Now it is possible to see 10 metres into its depths.
Mjoesa's present purity is the product of determination and it did
not come cheaply. It has cost about USD 190 million, but the chief of
the Mjoesa operation at the State Pollution Control Authority, Morten
Svelle, says that it was worth every penny. Another 100 million will be
spent annually until the year 2000 to further reduce phosphate
accumulations in Mjoesa.
An alliance of housewives and female farmers started the campaign to
clean up the deep glacial lake in the early 1970s, at a time when
authorities advised against drinking Mjoesa water, and many even
cowered from washing in it. Sewage treatment plants were opened, sewage
pipes improved, farmers' manure dumps sealed off better, and
grudgingly, soap producers were forced to deliver phosphate-free
detergents.
Mjoesa has become one of the cleanest lakes in Europe, and the campaign's
success is gaining international attention. The surrounding shores are
fairly densely populated with farms, towns and industry, a fact
which makes the positive results even more laudible.
norinform/8 22 June 1993
WHALE OIL IS GOOD FOR THE HEART
Greenlanders' consumption of whale oil may explain why they are less
susceptible to hardening of the arteries and other cardiovascular
diseases than people from other cultures, according to the
Norwegian Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture Research.
Professor Bjarne Oesterud at the University of Tromsoe has conducted
tests along with the Institute indicating that whale oil could be used
as medicine to prevent cardiovascular diseases. Whale oil lowers the
level of the blood enzyme thromboplastin, thus reducing the blood's
ability to coagulate - and cause blood clots. The oil also affects the
blood's production of a factor involved in infection reactions. "This
could explain why Greenlanders who eat a traditional diet are so rarely
bothered with arthritis, rheumatism, asthma and psoriasis," says
Oesterud.
"It is still important that we eat fish," he says. Those who eat lots
of fish have a better shot at longevity than those who don't. But
Oesterud's tests show that whale oil is even more effective than cod
liver oil.
Edel Elvevoll, who leads the Norwegian Institute for Fisheries and
Aquaculture Research in Tromsoe, says that medicinal whale oil products
will probably come into production next year. The Institute has
developed a method for squeezing the oil out of whale and seal blubber.
norinform/9 22 June 1993
"PATRIOT" - SOPHISTICATED WATCHDOG FOR AUTOMOBILES
"We hope to become one of the three biggest manufacturers of car alarm
systems in Europe by 1995," says Managing Director Morten Berg in the
Norwegian firm DEFA Intermotive, which is now launching the market's
most sophisticated alarm system for cars. Not only will it ensure
better surveillance and virtually exclude the possibility of false
alarms but it can also improve driving comfort. The remote control,
which is the smallest on the market, can steer a number of functions
such as retrieving information from the advanced self-diagnosis system,
thus averting the need for problematic trouble shooting.
DEFA's system is the only one which incorporates a microwave detector
for internal surveillance of the car. As it reacts to any movements in
liquids or metal, the possibility of false alarms is so small that the
company also recommends it for use in convertible coup-s. The alarm
also covers the bonnet, the lock of the boot, the doors and the ignition
system.
DEFA has been selling its alarm systems to the Nordic countries for
some time. It is now branching out in England, Austria, Hungary and the
Czech Republic and will shortly be competing with firms in the Benelux
countries, Germany, France, Spain and Ireland. Stringent insurance
regulations, particularly in Norway and Sweden, have led to the
manufacture of excellent alarm products, despite keen competition and
strong pressure on prices. The new system, Patriot, which is now to be
launched in Europe, is a third generation system from DEFA.
norinform/10 22 June 1993
STATOIL WILL EXPLORE BIG NEW OFFSHORE FIELD
Together with six other petroleum companies - BP, British Gas,
Mobil, Total, Agip and Shell - Statoil will explore a new and
potentially very large oil field in the Kazakhstan sector of the
Caspian Sea, an area that has been dubbed "the new Middle East". The
consortium won the assignment in tough competition with other
bidders. Seismic investigations will be carried out first, but this
could be quickly followed up with exploration drilling and even field
development.
In a joint venture with BP, the Norwegian state oil company is already
involved in another Caspian Sea offshore field, which will probably soon
be developed. A decision on the matter is expected by the end of 1994.
STATOIL PETROL FOR SALE IN GERMANY AND POLAND
This summer Statoil will open its first petrol stations in Germany and
Poland. The state petroleum company opened its first subsidaries and
sales offices in these countries last year, and a network of petrol
stations is being planned.
With 40 million inhabitants and an increasing number of cars,
Poland is an interesting new market. Like most modern petrol retailers,
Statoil will sell a host of goods at its road-side stations - a new
concept in Poland.
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