On Monday, Listhaug and Vedum met for a debate in Politisk kvarter on news P2. There, the SP leader refuted the criticism and characterized the FRP’s politics and ideology as “un-Norwegian”. He pointed, among other things, to the fact that the party has previously proposed selling out of state-owned companies such as Statoil and Statskog. – It is a non-Norwegian way of thinking. Norway has had a tradition since 1905 of securing ownership of natural resources so that they benefit the community, he pointed out. – If we had listened to Frp in the 70s, we would be in a completely different situation today. – Investments are put on hold Last week it became known that the state had paid NOK 2.65 billion to secure the giant property Meråker farm. The property is one of the country’s largest privately owned properties and almost three times the size of Oslo. – It is very naive of the FRP to think that it is the same whether it is Norwegians or Germans or Chinese who own this type of land, says Vedum. In any case, the sale has caused Sylvi Listhaug to react strongly. She believes such an acquisition is “insane” in lean times. – What is un-Norwegian is that we have a government that puts framework conditions for companies at risk, Listhaug acknowledges, and adds: – What is un-Norwegian is that we have a government that will throw out private actors from the health care system, who nevertheless had to be agree with Vedum that it is an advantage that Norwegian property is in Norwegian hands. – The very best thing is that Norwegians own Norwegian forests. Norwegians do that to a large extent. – But we have a government that wants to make the state richer, subsidize companies and draw in purchasing power from people and businesses. This means that many investments are put on hold. Will change the law But Vedum warns that this will be an important matter for the government, and signals that the state will buy more property. – For the Center Party and the Labor Party, it is completely out of the question that such large country properties should pass out of Norwegian hands and out of national control, says Vedum. He therefore says that the government will amend the Concessions Act to prevent Norwegian land properties ending up in foreign hands. – There is a loophole in the law now, so now it is possible to sell the type of limited company like Meraker Brug, which is almost three times the size of Oslo municipality, says Vedum. – We believe that it should not be possible and will change the Concession Act so that it should not be possible for limited companies to sell their properties out of Norway. Norwegian land areas should be owned by those who live here or by us collectively, he says. – Creates uncertainty Listhaug reacts strongly to this and believes the government creates uncertainty for foreign companies that want to invest in Norway. – Foreign companies that want to invest money in Norwegian companies say that this is less attractive because Norway appears to have less predictable framework conditions, says Listhaug. – We have never seen the husband. Within 12 months, the government has sent out a tax bill of NOK 55 billion. And that is before SV has joined the negotiations, she says.
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