ISSN 0804-709X
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NORINFORM - Weekly Edition
Produced by NORINFORM, Norwegian Information Service,
P.O. Box 241 Sentrum, N-0103 Oslo, Norway
Tel (47) 22 11 46 85, Fax (47) 22 42 48 87
Editors: Ragnvald Berggrav, Helge Loland
The NORINFORM press office was established by The Norwegian
Information Council and provides overseas news services in
several languages, daily (in English only) and weekly.
NORINFORM also produces the monthly magazine Norway Now and a
fulltext database containing bulletins and articles about
Norway.
Information from Norinform is complimentary. Reproduction
permitted. Please mention source of information.
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USD 1 = NOK 7.0 No. 30 - 28 September 1993
CONTENTS:
Whale of a letter to Clinton (1)
USA trip for Norway's soccer team? (2)
Advance for EC opponents (3)
Asylum policy to be changed (4)
Breakthrough in HIV testing (5)
Many businesses are doing better (6)
Lucrative space contract for three Norwegian firms (7)
Icelandic government limits fishing in loophole (8)
Gilt-edged contract for Truls M|rk (9)
Kvaerner to invest USD 290 million in the Warnow-shipyard (9)
Women well represented in new Storting (10)
Norsk Forsvarsteknologi to be privatised (10)
norinform/1 28
September 1993
WHALE OF A LETTER TO CLINTON
The political parties in Norway's national assembly, the
Storting have joined forces with 39 organizations and 15 county
municipalities in an appeal to US President Bill Clinton to refrain
from implementing sanctions directed against Norway's resumption of
commercial minke whaling. They hope that the arguments contained in the
four-page-long letter, which was handed over to the US Embassy in Oslo on 24
September, wil persuade the President not to institute punitive
measures against Norway. President Clinton has until 5 October to decide
on the issue of sanctions. The letter's main contention is that Norwegian
whaling is fully legal since Norway expressed reservations against the IWC,
the International Whaling Commission's, five-year ban on commercial
whaling.
The letter also underlines that the catch is ecologically defensible and
that the quota is lower than it would have been had the IWC determined
quotas on the basis of advice from its own scientific committee.
The letter appeals to the USA to respect the right of coastal
states to harvest renewable resources and the American authorities are
asked to base their whaling policies on scientific recommendations,
not on considerations as to which animals are especially popular among
the American public.
Among the 39 signatory organizations are also a number from Iceland,
Greenland, the Faroes and Canada.
norinform/2 28
September 1993
USA TRIP FOR NORWAY'S SOCCER TEAM?
The Norwegian soccer team's 1-0 victory over Poland last week
has put Norway well on the way to participation in nextyear's
world soccer championships in the USA. Norway's team ranks first in its
group, ahead of legendary soccer greats such as England and the
Netherlands. On the newest ranking list from FIFA - the world football
association - Norway is now in third place. Only Brazil and Italy are
ranked higher.
After six victories and two draws Norway heads its group and
the team has played ten qualifying matches in a row without losing one
of them on home ground.
The match between Norway and Poland in Oslo resembled a
battle rather than a soccer game. Tough duels for the ball and a grim
determination to win dominated the game, at the expense of constructive
play; one player from each team was sent off the field.
The Norwegian goal was scored by the formidable Jostein Flo - who with
his combination of great height and deadly heading skill was a
prominent figure on the field. After the goal was scored, Norway missed
two good chances to get even further ahead but the Polish visitors also
made two dangerous assaults on the Norwegian goal. On the whole, Norway
deserved its victory, though the team was also blessed with a fair
amount of luck.
With victory assured, soccer fans streamed to downtown Oslo
after the match for a tumultuous celebration in the streets, but
ever-cautious trainer Egil "Drillo" Olsen is quick to point out that the
team needs another point to be one hundred per cent sure of a ticket
to the USA. The two final matches will be played away, against Poland
and Turkey, but if the England - Netherlands match does not end in a
draw, Norway will qualify for the world championships even if it loses its
two last matches.
norinform/3 28
September 1993
ADVANCE FOR EC OPPONENTS
In Norway's newly elected national assembly, 76 of 165
representatives are opponents of Norwegian EC membership. Twenty-one of
them are Labour Party representatives and will heed the voters' recommendationn
after an EC referendum. Other EC sceptics in the Storting will also
respect a possible 'yes' majority in a referendum, although the law
does not require them to do so. The Storting, not plebiscites, has the
final word according to the Constitution. According to section 112,
sovereignty can be relinquished by the first Storting to be elected
after a bill is proposed - if there is a 2/3 majority. The Storting can
also renounce sovereignty in the same election period, but a 3/4 majority
is needed according to the Constitution's section 93.
A discussion is under way regarding whether Stortingtinging
representatives should be compelled to vote in accordance with a
referendum majority. One anti-EC party, the Christian Democrats with its 13
representatives, will respect a possible 'yes' result in a referendum, but
will not go along with Constitutional amendments to require less than a
3/4 majority to ratify an agreement to join the Community. Together with
the Centre Party (32 seats), and the Socialist Left (13 seats), the
Christian Democrats could block a parliamentary vote for membership
by a 2/3 majority. After the election, several anti-EC spokesmen - and
even a few membership enthusiasts - have called on the Government to
withdraw its EC application. The Government and representatives for
the Storting majority have rejected the proposal.
norinform/4 28
September 1993
ASYLUM POLICY TO BE CHANGED
The Norwegian Government is planning considerable changes in
its current immigration policies. Minister of Local Government and
Labour Gunnar Berge proposes that in the future all asylum seekers
be granted temporary residence permits, valid for only 12 months at a
time.
At present this restriction applies only to refugees fleeing
the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Under the proposed new laws, the
situation in the applicants' home countries will be the decisive factor
determining whether they can have their permits renewed, or whether they
are to be repatriated. After a three-year residence period in Norway,
humanitarian grounds, such as the family's or the children's particular
situation, can provide a basis for granting permanent residence. All
those who after five years have been unable to return to their
homelands will be offered permanent residence.
Evaluations of how safe it is to repatriate refugees will
thus have to be made by the Government, who will cooperate closely with
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other countries
that have taken in refugees from the same areas.
The Government is prepared to assist repatriated refugees
financially and the new regulations will not have retroactive effect in
the case of refugees who have already been granted permanent residence in
Norway.
norinform/5 28
September 1993
BREAKTHROUGH IN HIV TESTING
Bionor A/S, a small biotechnology firm in southeast Norway,
has achieved something that Scandinavia's major pharmaceutical concerns
have not yet managed to do. It has developed a special HIV test which
is ideally suited for use in Third World countries, where the need
for simple, reliable and cheap AIDS testing methods is enormous.
Furthermore, the method has won the approval of the World Health
Organisation (WHO), who have put it through exhaustive trials.
Bionor has spent 3 years and nearly USD 3 million on
developing its product, with the specific aim of offering it to the
developing countries. There are already more than 20 HIV tests on the
market but this one combines several characteristics that are unique to
Bionor; it is cheap to use, and provides a rapid result which can also
be relied on. Testing can be carried out manually without
recourse to sophisticated and costly equipment.
During development work Bionor has cooperated with a
Swedish pharmaceuticals company, but the innovative element is that
it has made use of Dynal magnetic particles - a technique developed in
Norway, but never before used in a HIV test.
The approval of WHO can open doors for international sales.
After a recent trade fair in the Netherlands, where the test was
presented, enquiries streamed in from all over the world, and even
Norway's Minister of Development Cooperation, Kari Nordheim Larsen, has
expressed willingness to help market the new product.
norinform/6 28
September 1993
MANY BUSINESSES ARE DOING BETTER
21,000 limited liability companies in Norway are doing better
now than they were a year ago. A recent assessment of the 107,000 such
companies in Norway shows that the number of them which are
considered credit-worthy has increased by 5 per cent in the past year.
The study was carried out by the credit rating firm Soliditet, which
analyzed the companies' accounts in the context of liquidity, and
financial strength and structure. Solvency during the last three years was
also taken into account. According to Geir Remman in Soliditet there
is strong turbulence in business and industry. Firms that were
successful in 1992 are not necessarily the same as those that are doing well
today.
During the course of 12 stormy months, major changes have
taken place in Norwegian business. More than 43.5 per cent of
companies have a different rating to the one they had a year ago. Over half
of the 21,000 companies investigated showed a clear improvement, 8,000
a slight improvement, while 2,000 show signs of improvement thought
they are still weak. "The reason for the improvements is that many
firms have cut costs and thereby improved their operating margins. On
average,these firms also have a higher solvency ratio than they had one
year ago," says Geir Remman.
But though many firms are going better, others are worse off
than they were a year ago. Conditions have deteriorated for a total
of 18,000 companies. "However, it's good news that Norwegian
companies on the whole are now more credit-worthy than before. This has
given the banks many new customers to compete for," says Remman.
norinform/7 28
September 1993
LUCRATIVE SPACE CONTRACT FOR THREE NORWEGIAN FIRMS
The three Norwegian high-tech firms, Norsk Forsvarsteknologi
A/S (NFT), Raufoss A/S, and AME Space will deliver parts for about USD
140 million to the European booster rocket "Ariane 5".
NFT has won a contract to produce six stays and two other
attachment devices to "Ariane 5", the European Space Agency's new work
horse. The stays will be made of steel and will secure the carrying of
the rocket's payloads into space.
Raufoss A/S and AME Space have been awarded development and
production contracts for key parts of the rocket. Raufoss will deliver
devices that will instantly separate rocket stages, two minutes after
lift-off at an altitude of 56 km. AME Space will develop and produce
electronic guidance systems, electric power supplies and gauges aboard
"Ariane 5".
Deliveries will continue for 20 years and production will
provide work for 100 employees at the three companies. The contract
resulted from cooperation between the firms, the Norwegian Space Centre
and the Ministry of Industry and Energy. "Ariane 5 will be launched in
the autumn of 1995 from the European space centre in French
Guyana.
norinform/8 28
September 1993
ICELANDIC GOVERNMENT LIMITS FISHING IN LOOPHOLE
"The Icelandic authorities recently imposed ban on
fishing in the southeastern waters of the "loophole", (See Norinform nr.
26, 31 August 1993), is a big step forward says Norway's Minister of
Fisheries Jan Henry T.Olsen. His Icelandic colleague Thorstein Palsson
implemented the ban when an inspector from the Icelandic ministry of
fisheries stated that a major part of the catch that trawlers were bringing
back from the controversial area consisted of small fish, under the
stipulated minimum size. The Icelandic inspector, who conducted his
control aboard the Norwegian Coast Guard vessel "St}lbas", quickly realized
that the result of Norway's control measurements - which revealed a high
percentage of undersize fish - tallied with the actual conditions. Jan
Henry T.Olsen maintains that a ban on fishing in the southeasterly part
of the area implies in reality a total halt on all fishing in the
loophole.
"The Icelanders' decision confirms that our criticism of
fishing in the loophole was justified," says head of information Jon
Lauritsen in the Norwegian Fishermen's Association. "But the trawlers'
activities represent a serious threat to the fisheries resources of
the Barents Sea. In our opinion fishing should be forbidden in all the
waters of the loophole," he adds.
Jan Henry T.Olsen admits, however, that disagreement between
Norway and Iceland has not been entirely resolved... "but the Icelandic
decision means that it will be easier to discuss the issue with
Iceland's fisheries authorities from now on" he says.
norinform/9 28
September 1993
GILT-EDGED CONTRACT FOR TRULS M\RK
The successful Norwegian cellist Truls M|rk has been given a
gilt-edged record contract with Virgin Classics for ten records over a
period of 3 years. The records will be released worldwide. On his
first record, which has already been released, M|rk plays with the Oslo
Philharmonic Orchestra.
The first of the ten planned releases contains music by
Dvorak and Tchaikovsky. The next record is also almost finished. On
this, M|rk plays romantic music by Grieg and Sibelius. Later, he will
interpret music by Johan Strauss and two hitherto unknown cello-concerts by
the Norwegian composer Kjetil Hvosleff.
KV[RNER TO INVEST USD 290 MILLION IN THE WARNOW-SHIPYARD
The Norwegian Kvaerner group has decided to implement an
investment programme of USD 290 million at the Warnow-shipyard in
northeastern Germany. The intention of the investments and the
accompanying reduction in manpower is to make Warnow one of the most
efficient and productive shipyards in Europe. In an investment- and
guarantee-package that Kvaerner committed itself to at the takeover last
year, the sum of USD 290 million was set aside to cover potential
losses both on contracts already made and on new contracts until 1996.
norinform/10 28
September 1993
WOMEN WELL REPRESENTED IN NEW STORTING
Female representation in Norway's newly eleected national
assembly, the Storting, will amount to 39.4 per cent of the total; 65 of
the 165 seats will be held by women. At the last election in 1989, 59
women gained seats in the Storting. The Labour Party tops the equal
status ranking, with 34 women out of a total of 67 representatives. The
Conservatives have 8 women out of 28, while the Centre Party has 13 out
of 32. The Christian Democrats, the Socialist Left and the Progress
Party have respectively 4, 4 and 1 woman representative out of altogether
13,13 and 10.
Broken down into age groups there are 19 representatives
between 20 and 32 years of age, 52 between 33 and 45, 86between 46 and 58
and 8 over 59 years of age. The youngest representative is 21 years old,
the oldest 67.
NORSK FORSVARSTEKNOLOGI TO BE PRIVATISED
The board of the state-owned Norsk Forsvarsteknologi (NFT)
has decided to propose to Minister of Industry and Energy Finn
Kristensen that the firm be partially privatised. NFI is the main successor
to ammunitions concern Kongsberg V}penfabrikk, which went bankrupt in
1987.
The plan is to quote NFT shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange after
new, private capital has been fed into the concern. However, the state
will retain 51 per cent of the shares, following a pattern that was
used when Raufoss Ammunisjonsfabrikk went public in 1990.
NFT's partial privatisation is subject to the approval of the
company's general assembly, in this case the Minister of Industry and
Energy.
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