– When a loan of NOK 200 million is taken out without the Storting being consulted, it is completely unique in recent Norwegian history, says law professor Christoffer Conrad Eriksen. He believes that the Storting should set up an independent investigation committee if there are questions after the Control and Constitution Committee has looked into the matter. Christoffer Conrad Eriksen is professor at the Department of Public Law at the University of Oslo. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB – An answer must be given as to what role the ministry has had in this case and whether there are other cases in addition, he says. – If it is the case that the ministry has been involved, and has been involved over several years involving several ministers in several different governments, then it speaks volumes for the Storting to appoint its own commission of inquiry to clarify the situation, he adds. The Storting will pay off the loan On Friday, Sofie Nystrøm resigned as director of the National Insurance Agency (NSM). The reason was an illegal loan of NOK 200 million. The loan was entered into with Norwegian Property in connection with the lease of premises at Fornebu in Oslo. The loan was, among other things, for IT equipment, furniture and insurance measures. Sofie Nystrøm, director of the National Insurance Agency (NSM), has resigned due to an illegal loan agreement of NOK 200 million. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB NSM said for its part that they had informed the Ministry of Justice that they would enter into an agreement with so-called embedded financing. Nystrøm also said that they had had such loan agreements since 2014. Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl has rejected this. On Monday, the Right and Socialist Left Party (SV) secured a majority in the Storting so that Mehl can write off the loan by giving NSM NOK 200 million. Several law professors said that they experienced this as a rush, and said that it would have been better if the loan had been frozen until the situation was more clarified. The decision is unclear For so far, the matter is anything but settled, and one of the unsettled questions is where the distinction between a loan and an agreement with built-in financing goes. news has been in contact with a number of brokers and lawyers within commercial property. They say that it is common for leases with built-in financing. They therefore believe that it is not unusual for expenses in connection with moving to be baked into the rent. NSM took out loans for, among other things, IT equipment, furniture and insurance measures in this premises. Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB Leases with built-in financing are called investment leases, but also finance leases or capital leases. – Investment rents are common for both public and private tenants. In line with the investment in the premises, tenants pay an increased rental price, which has been agreed in advance. So says Dag-Jørgen Saltnes, who is editor of Estate Nyheter, a website for the property industry. He believes that there is no clear distinction between so-called investment rent and a loan. – Has not entered into an investment lease news is aware that there are several public enterprises that have agreements with built-in financing. At the same time, the public enterprises say news has been contacted that there are significant differences between the agreements they have and the agreement with NSM. Nav, which has been in a lease with Norwegian Property since 2016, says the agreement is an “ordinary lease”. – The tenancy and the contract do not contain any loan-financed conditions. We have not entered into so-called investment leases, as is revealed in the NSM case, says Marianne Fålun, who is finance and governance director at Nav. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration informs news that they use “the government standard for lease agreements”. They further write that they are not aware that they have “agreements on increases in rent as a result of change/adjustment work in current leases”. At the same time, they write that they will “go through the portfolio of agreements to ensure the quality of this”. Peikar på vesensfjörgeld news has also been in contact with Statsbygg about the premises of the Ministry of Justice at Gullhaug Torg in Nydalen in Oslo. Hege Aschim in Statsbygg says that the terror on 22 July 2011 meant that they had used for new premises. She points out that the Ministry of Justice’s lease differs significantly from what NSM has been criticized for. – Yes absolutely. The state pays a house rent that includes everything, including upgrades and adaptations. Costs for replacement premises for the ministries, including Gullhaug Torg, are anchored in the Storting, with associated licences, Aschim states. – The state has not entered into any loan agreement linked to Gullhaug square, as NSM has for its premises. For the record, we state that it is Statsbygg that has entered into the lease agreement on behalf of the state, adds Aschim.
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Law professor wants a full investigation of the NSM case – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
