Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday
Experts believe 2023 will be a challenging and expensive year, concerts of Norwegian metal band cancelled in Australia after accusations of racism and other news from Norway on Tuesday.
Norwegian experts: 2023 will be even more expensive
Several Norwegian economists fear 2023 will be a more demanding economic year than 2022 in terms of mortgages, food prices, and travel, among other things, TV 2 reports.
The channel has spoken to several economists and looked more closely at the expenses Norwegians can expect in 2023.
"If a household has a total income of 1 million kroner, and they have 3 million kroner in loans, then they can expect to pay 34,000 kroner more a year in interest and repayments compared to 2022," consumer economist at Danske Bank Thea Olsen told the channel.
The calculation is based on the average interest rate being 4.85 percent in 2023.
"If the same household has 5 million kroner in loans, meaning that they have borrowed five times their income, then they will have to expect increased interest and repayments on their loan of 56,000 kroner a year," Olsen explained.
After several negative experiences, lawsuits and company penalties from the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority, the electricity company decided to close down operations in December.
Customers with favourable maximum price agreements have thus had to enter into new and more expensive contracts with other electricity suppliers.
Concerts of Norwegian metal band cancelled in Australia after accusations of racism
The concerts of the metal band Taake in Australia have been cancelled after a student union accused the band of racist and hateful attitudes.
Taake was scheduled to play concerts in the Australian cities of Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne between the 2nd and 5th of February this year.
Now, all the concerts have been cancelled, following, among other things, reactions from a student union in Sydney, The Guardian reports. In Norway, the case was first reported by Bergens Tidende (BT).
New emergency notification system to be in place in February
The state's new system for notifying people in the event of a crisis will be in place from February. This system will be tested this week, Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
Norwegian authorities want to be able to use the system to send a direct notification to all mobile phones in Norway should a crisis occur.
"This is an important tool for the authorities to reach out (to people) quickly with information if there is, for example, danger," Mehl explained.
The system will work on both Apple and Android phones from February. It will also work if your mobile network is down, Mehl added.
The mobile alert will not replace the all-raid sirens used today - it will be an addition to it, according to the authorities.
Close to 200 customers are filing lawsuits against Tinde energi
Skaun Advokatfirma is preparing a lawsuit on behalf of around 200 customers against the electricity company Tinde energi, their owners, and management.
"I can confirm that we are preparing a lawsuit on behalf of close to 200 customers," lawyer Bjørnar Håland at Skaun Advokatfirma in Sandefjord told the newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN).
The background to the notified lawsuit is that, last year, the company changed the fixed price customers' conditions.
Vestfold District Court has ruled four times this autumn that Tinde Energi in Sandefjord is obliged to deliver electricity to fixed-price customers in accordance with the original agreement.
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Norwegian experts: 2023 will be even more expensive
Several Norwegian economists fear 2023 will be a more demanding economic year than 2022 in terms of mortgages, food prices, and travel, among other things, TV 2 reports.
The channel has spoken to several economists and looked more closely at the expenses Norwegians can expect in 2023.
"If a household has a total income of 1 million kroner, and they have 3 million kroner in loans, then they can expect to pay 34,000 kroner more a year in interest and repayments compared to 2022," consumer economist at Danske Bank Thea Olsen told the channel.
The calculation is based on the average interest rate being 4.85 percent in 2023.
"If the same household has 5 million kroner in loans, meaning that they have borrowed five times their income, then they will have to expect increased interest and repayments on their loan of 56,000 kroner a year," Olsen explained.
After several negative experiences, lawsuits and company penalties from the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority, the electricity company decided to close down operations in December.
Customers with favourable maximum price agreements have thus had to enter into new and more expensive contracts with other electricity suppliers.
Concerts of Norwegian metal band cancelled in Australia after accusations of racism
The concerts of the metal band Taake in Australia have been cancelled after a student union accused the band of racist and hateful attitudes.
Taake was scheduled to play concerts in the Australian cities of Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne between the 2nd and 5th of February this year.
Now, all the concerts have been cancelled, following, among other things, reactions from a student union in Sydney, The Guardian reports. In Norway, the case was first reported by Bergens Tidende (BT).
New emergency notification system to be in place in February
The state's new system for notifying people in the event of a crisis will be in place from February. This system will be tested this week, Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
Norwegian authorities want to be able to use the system to send a direct notification to all mobile phones in Norway should a crisis occur.
"This is an important tool for the authorities to reach out (to people) quickly with information if there is, for example, danger," Mehl explained.
The system will work on both Apple and Android phones from February. It will also work if your mobile network is down, Mehl added.
The mobile alert will not replace the all-raid sirens used today - it will be an addition to it, according to the authorities.
Close to 200 customers are filing lawsuits against Tinde energi
Skaun Advokatfirma is preparing a lawsuit on behalf of around 200 customers against the electricity company Tinde energi, their owners, and management.
"I can confirm that we are preparing a lawsuit on behalf of close to 200 customers," lawyer Bjørnar Håland at Skaun Advokatfirma in Sandefjord told the newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN).
The background to the notified lawsuit is that, last year, the company changed the fixed price customers' conditions.
Vestfold District Court has ruled four times this autumn that Tinde Energi in Sandefjord is obliged to deliver electricity to fixed-price customers in accordance with the original agreement.
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