Ordinary question time in the Storting, 2 March 2022: The Progress Party’s health politician Bård Hoksrud questions Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) about the Directorate of Health’s recent rejection of an application from snuff giant Swedish Match to sell tobacco-free snuff in Norway. – Does the Minister of Health then think that we should add sugar to sugar-free soft drinks, or does the Minister of Health agree that there is a health effect of people using tobacco-free snus? asks Hoksrud. – So we have a system which means that you have to put tobacco in the snuff for it to become legal and be sold in Norway. It sounds very molbo-ish. TOBACCO-FREE: FRP health politician Bård Hoksrud called it “molbo-like” that Norway does not allow snus without added tobacco in question time on March 2, 2022. The picture is from an earlier question time. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB Communications manager in crisis In the same period that Hoksrud problematized a rejected application from the snus giant Swedish Match, the Progress Party’s then communications manager Espen Teigen was in a private financial crisis. In February 2022, he asks Nils Erlimo, director of communications at Swedish Match, about a loan. PRIVATE MATTERS: Communications director Nils Erlimo at Swedish Match will not say how much he lent to Espen Teigen. Photo: Swedish Match – Yes, I chose to do it in a situation that felt urgent and serious for him, writes Erlimo in an SMS to news. Erlimo confirms that he loaned Teigen money in February 2022, but won’t say how much. – I think the sum is a private matter. But Teigen had a greater need for money. He turned to senior adviser Lasse Lehre in the PR agency Kruse Larsen. For several years, Lehre has worked with influence work for Swedish Match. The snuff giant is on Kruse Larsen’s open customer list. In 2021, Lehre was listed as part of the delegation from Swedish Match at a conference held by the “Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association” in Dubai. BORROWED TO A FRIEND: Senior advisor Lasse Lehre at Kruse Larsen confirms that he lent money to Espen Teigen in February 2022. Photo: Kruse Larsen – Espen Teigen was a friend of mine, who said he was in a difficult situation and needed a loan. It was only supposed to last until he got paid, and he made up after that. It was not more problematic – neither then nor now, writes Lehre in an SMS to news. Lehre states that he has loaned Teigen money on several occasions. – I lent him NOK 2,000 in February 2022. I had previously lent him NOK 1,000 in April 2021, and NOK 2,500 in September 2021, loans that were repaid after a short time. Hello! Do you know anything about this case? Please send me a tip! – Borrowed money from some friends Espen Teigen’s period as head of communications in the Progress Party was short. He was in the position from January 2022 and it was known that he quit on 16 March last year. When asked whether, during this period, he was involved in plans or message design around snus and tobacco in Frp, or participated in meetings with Swedish Match, Teigen answers via SMS. – Now I don’t think I had anything special to do with this particular case. But quite apart from that, this is a strange case. – According to this logic, the FRP must have been influenced to follow its own liberal snus policy, on the basis that I borrowed money from some friends. Teigen believes the loans had nothing to do with his role as communications manager, but were simply a show of hands between friends. – Nils and Lasse are friends of mine who were kind and helped me in a difficult situation. I would never write about them as a journalist, as they are friends. According to the media database Retriever, Teigen has written 8 articles as a journalist in Nettavisen that mention Swedish Match. Most of the cases are from 2019. The most recent article is from October 2020. In one of the articles, Teigen problematizes the ban on tobacco-free snus. – I would like to apologize to Nils and Lasse who have to go through this, on the basis that they are good friends of mine. I think that’s sad, writes Teigen. TWO STEPS BEHIND: Espen Teigen has for several periods been an adviser to Sylvi Listhaug, and was also for a short period communications manager in the party. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB SV: – Very unfortunate SV’s health policy spokesperson Marian Hussein reacts to the fact that Teigen has borrowed money from the tobacco lobby while the FRP has worked for tobacco-free snus. VERY UNFORTUNATE: SV’s health politician Marian Hussein says she expects the Progress Party to clean up a situation where questions can be asked about ties. Photo: Javad M. Parsa / NT – It is very unfortunate that a situation has arisen where questions can be asked about parties’ ties to business interests and the background to questions asked in the Storting. I assume that the Progress Party will clean this up and distance itself from such a practice. Listhaug silent about Teigen Frp leader Sylvi Listhaug does not want to be interviewed by news, or to answer questions she has been sent about the matter: SILENT: Sylvi Listhaug does not want to be interviewed by news about her former advisor’s loans to tobacco lobbyists. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB – We have no opportunity to either have an overview of, or disclose detailed information about current or former employees’ private finances, writes the party’s communications manager Jon Engen-Helgheim in an e-mail to news. – FrP’s policy on snus has been known and unchanged for a long time, completely independent of what news is now taking up. For the record, reference is made to the fact that similar questions about tobacco-free snus were asked by the Frp in May 2021, i.e. long before the mentioned conditions arose, writes Helgheim.
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Teigen borrowed money from tobacco lobbyists while the FRP worked for tobacco-free snus – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
