On Friday, Sofie Nystrøm resigned as head of NSM. The reason was an illegal loan of NOK 200 million. The loan was entered into in connection with the rental of premises at Fornebu in Oslo. The loans were for security adaptations of the building, IT equipment and furniture. The premises NSM rents are in this building at Fornebu. Photo: Norwegian property The Ministry of Justice was informed in May 2022 that NSM would enter into a “lease agreement with built-in financing”, according to Nystrøm. – Former director of NSM Sofie Nystrøm has maintained that loan agreements have been a normal practice back to 2014. The ministries cannot currently see that this is true, writes the Ministry of Justice. It is the Storting that determines the budgets of state agencies. Therefore, state enterprises must not take on debt from private actors in addition. – There are many questions after what has happened. We must investigate whether the illegal loan may have had an impact on other matters and assessments, and we want transparency around this, says Mehl. According to the Ministry of Justice’s review, they were not sent the loan agreement until 7 November. It happened after a meeting on 1 November, where NSM asked for more money. – The Lease Agreement was well known to Norwegian Property, multi-billionaire John Fredriksen’s property company. The interest on the loan was 10 percent. – The Ministry of Justice was well aware that this was an agreement with built-in financing, with an obligation to repay the amount with interest, writes Sofie Nystrøm in an e-mail to news on Saturday evening. Sofie Nystrøm resigned on Friday as head of NSM. She even asked to leave. Photo: ISMAIL BURAK AKKAN / news She says that the Ministry of Justice, and then the Ministry of Local Government and District Affairs, received a draft agreement in May that deals with more than just renting premises. – The agreement includes additional financing of investments in special adaptations and security, and it contained wording that the amount was to be repaid over the lease period, Nystrøm states. She also repeats what she has claimed previously: That there were no comments on the agreement. – We have followed this principle, and it is the same basic mechanism that was the basis of the agreement that was signed, writes Nystrøm. – May have several points of contact The case may affect several ministries, says Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) on Saturday. – As I said yesterday, the work to survey the circumstances surrounding the loan will continue. This may have more touch points than we currently have an overview of. The external review must get clarity on that, says Mehl. The ministries that may be affected are the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Local Government and District Affairs. – As announced, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness will review ten-year rental agreements, says Mehl. Some of the things that will be reviewed are: The process of entering into a new lease The transfer of administrative responsibility for NSM from the Ministry of Defense to the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness in 2019 NSM’s tenancy agreements over the past ten years Whether there are conditions linked to the establishment of a new unit for export control and sanctions under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which is related to the loan agreements
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– Can have several points of contact – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
