13 million in private planes – VG

The total cost of flights, hotels, food and drinks for those traveling from Oslo to the disputed seminar in the United States in November was NOK 160,120 per guest. This applies to guests who traveled to and from Oslo and obtained accommodation for three nights and stays covered by Tangen.

In addition, the expenses fall on the musicians, which the financier and administrator of the oil fund holder Nicolai Tangen (53) will not share with the guests. It is an invoice that he himself takes, he says.

This shows the accounts that Tangen has made available:

• NOK 8,824 for food and drink per guest.
• NOK 2,880 per hotel per night per guest.
• The concert with Sting cost around a million dollars.
• The concert with Gregory Porter cost $ 250,000.
• The concert with the Sara Bareilles concert cost $ 150,000.

Tangen will not complain about the seminar or the costs, but regrets that the participants and Norges Bank have been affected.

– I have sent the list of costs and I will not say anything more about this now. I’m sorry that this has caused inconvenience for friends and acquaintances, and noise for the oil fund, Tangen tells VG.

This is the case

This weekend, VG revealed how more than 30 Norwegian community summits in November of last year participated in a three-day seminar in Philadelphia. Financier and billionaire Tangen informed VG that he had planned the seminar for two years. In March, it was announced that he will be the new head of the Petroleum Fund.

Tangen hired two private jets and covered hotels, food, drinks and entertainment for many of the 150 participants.

Among the entertainment was a two-hour concert with pop legend Sting.

Two private planes: 13 million

Several guests traveled in a private jet called Crystal Skye, and are described as “the newest and most spacious luxury jet in the world.”

The specially built Boeing 777 has a restaurant for about 20 people with its own chef, butlers, two bars with wine coolers, and spacious bathrooms. Each seat has a 24-inch television and can be converted into a bed.

In total, Tangen paid over DKK 13 million for two leased aircraft.

• Oslo-Philadelphia-Oslo, came in at $ 573,728 (USD) to rent, about $ 5,278,300.
• London-Philadelphia-London cost $ 851,900 (USD) to rent, or $ 7,837,480.

According to Tangen, the Oslo plane had 34 passengers on the trip to the United States and 37 passengers on the return trip. On the London plane, 52 passengers were brought to the United States and 57 returned.

The flight from Oslo-Philadelphia-Oslo costs NOK 142,656 per passenger. Then it was assumed that the bill would be divided by 37, which was the number that flew home, while 34 flew to the United States.

– It would not be natural for participants to pay for these planes, writes Tangen in a press release.

Prime Minister Torbjørn Røe Isaksen (H), who was among the seminar participants, did not fly with Tang’s private plane, but with scheduled regular flights.

– This seminar was planned and implemented when working with finance in London. At the time, I had no plans or thoughts that I would be employed in a public position in Norway. As a public servant, of course, I am aware that I will not be able to organize and finance such seminars, Tangen writes in a press release on Wednesday.

They selected the menus themselves

The menu during the seminar included duck breast, lobster, and selected wines from the United States.

Tang said he was personally involved in the selection of the menus:

– I took a chef training and personally participated in the selection of ingredients and the choice of menus, as it seems exciting to me and was part of the framework for the seminar. I am so aware that the menu options for this seminar are of a different nature than is natural as a public official, writes Tangen.

He says the total cost per participant for food and drinks for the three-day seminar is $ 959.18 (USD), corresponding to approximately NOK 8,824 (course 9.2, November 2019). This includes breakfast, lunch and dinner for three days, plus drinks.

The most expensive dinner was given to the guests before the Sting concert. Then the total cost of dinner came to $ 42,300.

Here you can see what was on the menu:

Comply with strong reactions

Attendees at the seminar were Government Prosecutor Fredrik Sejersted, Deputy Manager of the Yngve Slyngstad Oil Fund, former Manager of the Knut Kjær Oil Fund, Prime Minister Torbjørn Røe Isaksen (H), Director of the NUPI, Ulf Sverdrup, the philosopher Henrik Syse, several wholesalers Knut Brundt.

Also read: Norges Bank to pay for Slyngstad stay at Tangen seminar

The program receives harsh criticism from various teams. Jørn Eggum, head of LO’s largest private sector association, questions the judgment of key community stakeholders who participated.

LO-top: – Pliers have to give up or end

Norges Bank’s Supervisory Board met on Wednesday for an extraordinary five-hour meeting on the matter. From the Central Bank Governor Øystein Olsen’s account of Tangen’s employment, it was clear that the Supervisory Board still wants more answers.