Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre visits Equinor’s LNG facility at Melkoeya, near Hammerfest, January 31, 2023. Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB/AFP
Ever richer thanks to gas revenues multiplied by the conflict in Ukraine, Norway is not a “war profiteer“, defends his prime minister in an interview with AFP on Wednesday, a few days before a new aid plan for kyiv.
Asked in the Norwegian Arctic after a visit to a gas liquefaction plant near Hammerfest, Jonas Gahr Støre brushed aside the accusation made by those who want Oslo to do more for Ukrainians and suggested that his country would soon become one of the very first donors.
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“Norway goes into overdrive”
“It’s a notion that I categorically reject.“says the Prime Minister. His government is soon to present a “multiannual aid packagefor the benefit of Ukraine and poor countries affected by the fallout from the war, such as soaring grain prices.
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This plan “will help them to maintain their civil infrastructures, to -hopefully- rebuild one day a free Ukraine while also supporting them militarily“, underlines the head of government. The exact amount and content will be disclosed.at the beginning of February“.
It is wrong, according to him, to suggest that his country is unduly profiting from the war in Ukraine, an accusation made in particular by the Polish Prime Minister. Norway has been working hard since last year to help offset the collapse of Russian gas supplies to Europe, said the Prime Minister. It has become its leading supplier, increasing its exports by 8 to 10%, thus helping the continent to spend the winter warm.
Budget surplus
It fills, in passing, its coffers: this year, the government forecasts a record budget surplus of 1.127 billion crowns (104 billion euros), driven by soaring oil and gas revenues. A sum that will supplement the country’s sovereign fund, already the largest in the world with more than 13,400 billion crowns in assets.
“For 50 years, Norway has explored, at its own risk, and produced energy resources, oil and gas“, pleaded Jonas Støre. “Norway doesn’t set the prices“.
The increase in gas prices, insists the Norwegian leader, is also reflected in soaring electricity bills for Norwegian families and businesses, “which is politically a big challenge for us», in a country that turns, heats and travels largely on electricity.
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