According to DV.is Asbjorn Ottarsson, Independence Party MP paid himself and his wife 65 million ISK in dividends from their fishing company Nesver in 2008.
The company lost 574 million ISK in the same year and had a negative equity of 157 million ISK.
This is one of the 63 people who is supposed to provide a guiding light out of the economic crisis.
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Boggi
7 months ago
This is embarassing!! They are just making fun of us.
Blubber
7 months ago
The basic problem with Icelandic “democracy” is that the elections are for parties, not persons.
Sure, you decide if you want to cast your vote for a party with crooks, but it leaves you very little choice and very little room for improvement within the ranks. As shown by the IP list for Reykjavik city council.
Sveim
7 months ago
I don’t know anything about Asbjorn, but it seems to me that his case may be misunderstood – and I wan’t to clarify the booking methods of dividend payments:
Payments are based on profit/loss and asset valuations at yearend of previous year. That means that 2008 dividends are based on 2007 profits and would usually have been decided on and paid in the first quarter 2008.
Asbjorns company may have had profits in 2007 and postive equity should have been 417 million on dec. 31st. 2007 (574-157million).
What therefore looks bad now may have been logical at the time.
Dadi
7 months ago
Sveim, that is a logical approach.
But to me there are two thing that need consideration.
Firstly that the IP and the Fishing Quota industry is so connected that you cannot make distinction between them. And it is the fishing industry alone which benefits from the disastrous economic management which has been practised by Icelandic governments for decades.
Secondly, at that time a lot of people could see what was coming. Especially those well-connected. I have said many times before that the business practices of politicians and big businessmen in the year 2008 must be examined. How much did they know, and when?
Einar
7 months ago
Sveim, you say:
I don’t know anything about Asbjorn, but it seems to me that his case may be misunderstood – and I wan’t to clarify the booking methods of dividend payments.
Well misunderstood or what, he has now repayed the money. What he did is against the law.
But he did not resign.
And why should he .. independent party is filled with men like him. The chairman is under investigation because of simular cases.
Iceland, the banana republic.
Einar
7 months ago
well, there was some text missing, in that comment.
You get the point.