When NSM director Sofie Nystrøm had to resign on 8 December last year, the explanation was that the ministry had recently uncovered illegal loans of NOK 200 million from John Fredriksen-controlled Norwegian Property, owner of NSM’s rented premises in Fornebu. The ministry has presented both to the Storting and in its own timeline on the matter, that they were first notified of a budget gap in the NSM in mid-October. But documents news has been given access to show that the budget alarm went off in the Ministry of Justice even before the summer of last year. During a so-called agency management meeting between the NSM director and the ministry on 14 June, it became clear that the NSM was far over the allocated budget. EXPENSIVE LOANS: NSM borrowed a total of NOK 200 million from John Fredriksen-controlled Norwegian Property, which owns the office premises NSM rents at Fornebu outside Oslo. Photo: Øyvind Bye Skille / news The situation was so serious that fixed monthly budget meetings were set up between NSM and the heads of expedition in both the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defense over the summer. “In May/June 2023, the department became aware that NSM was subject to an additional expenditure compared to the adopted budget. In such situations, it is common for the responsible ministry to implement particularly close follow-up of the business. It was done in this case,” confirms communications adviser Camilla Fosse in the Ministry of Justice in an email to news. “That NSM, in parallel with this, took out a loan from a private actor was unknown to the ministry until the loan agreements were sent to the ministry on 7 November 2023,” she emphasizes. The Ministry of Justice has given news access to some of the monthly meeting minutes, but still keeps several of them secret on the grounds that they are so-called internal. The minutes reveal more details about the critical budget situation in one of Norway’s secret services: NSM already proposed saving measures of NOK 11.5 million on 3 July last year. The Ministry of Justice said no to this, because they believed the cut proposals “mainly (would) come into conflict with the need to look after NSM’s core tasks”. The ministry also believed that the cuts were too small. NSM received several critical questions about the use of money. At the meeting on 23 August, the Ministry of Defense wondered about “the eightfold increase in the expenses related to the rental of computer systems from 2022 to the same period in 2023 and asks NSM for an explanation/explanation of what this is” In the same meeting it is indicated that, according to a forecast, NSM is 26 million kroner over budget, but that the ministry “assumes that NSM achieves a balance at the end of the year”. The NSM is making what are referred to as “demanding” and “unpopular” savings measures, such as withdrawing all budgetary powers. Travel, courses and overtime must be approved by management. Departed NSM director Sofie Nystrøm does not want to comment on the matter. – Storting misinformed The minutes of the meetings show that Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl has misinformed the Storting, says Frps 1st Deputy Chairman Hans Andreas Limi. CRITICAL: FRP deputy leader Hans Andreas Limi believes the Minister of Justice has given the wrong information to the Storting in the NSM case. Photo: news – The Storting is misinformed, because they say so clearly in the supplementary bill in December that the ministry became aware of this in October. It turns out that this information and process started already in June. – What remains to be clarified is what the political leadership knew and when they found out. We must assume that they were informed along the way. – This is handled at such a high level in the ministries with regular meetings, so it is unnatural to imagine that political leadership was not informed. Took out a new loan Two and a half months after the ministry set up monthly crisis meetings with NSM about the strained budget situation, NSM extended the loan from its landlord at Fornebu, Norwegian Property. The loan of a further NOK 100 million was taken out on gray market terms with close to 10% interest at the start of September last year. Limi characterizes it as “inconceivable” that NSM, after “almost being placed under a form of financial administration”, takes out a new loan of NOK 100 million. – It is incredibly serious that an agency can enter into such agreements. But the fact that they still do it when they are under some form of financial administration is absolutely incredible. It is almost unreal that such a thing should happen, he says. HAS BEEN INVESTIGATED: Former central bank governor Svein Gjedrem has led the investigation into the NSM case. Photo: news Investigation report On Friday, the so-called Gjedrem committee delivers its review of the NSM case to the Ministry of Justice. Limi believes that it may be relevant both to request a new statement from Mehl in the Storting, and for the Control Committee to consider whether a control hearing should be opened on the basis of the Gjedrem report. – The committee has initially agreed to wait for the investigation. Then, on the basis of the report, they must decide whether a control case should be opened.
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Minutes reveal financial crisis in NSM before illegal loans – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
