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The Tjuvholmen Sjømagasin restaurant closed for renovations in late February and would reopen after Easter. At the same time, the restaurant received NOK 355,720 as a result of the closure of the crown crisis. Now they admit mistakes and they have to return the money.
DISPOSAL: On February 25, Tjuvholmen Sjømagasin uploaded this photo on his Facebook page, where they wrote that they will renew and keep it closed until Easter.
Screenshot / Facebook
published:,
In recent days, several companies have been paid a total of millions of crowns from the state emergency fund to small and large companies.
One of the restaurants that received support for lack of sales in March was Tjuvholmen Sjømagasin, which is part of the Furset group. The restaurant already announced in early February that they would be closing for renovation and would reopen in April.
E24 asked owner Bjørn Tore Furset why they had requested cash assistance when the restaurant was closed for renovations, and received a reply Tuesday that they thought they had done everything right in consultation with the auditor and advisers.
After E24 announced the regulations, Furset decided to take another round with the Tax Administration.
– We are awaiting comments from the Tax Agency on this matter, as we hope and believe that we have done it correctly, Furset replied on Tuesday.
But on Wednesday the counter note arrived:
– Then we had a good dialogue with the Tax Administration, and it turns out, as you point out, that we have misinterpreted the regulations on closing renovations. We have now resolved this with the Tax Administration, says Furset, who adds that he is pleased to have resolved the matter.
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REFUND: After E24 contacted Bjørn Tore Furset about the support, he announces that they will pay the sum. The image is from a previous occasion.
Berit Roald / NTB scanpix
He got more support than those who were open
Naturally, the restaurant did not have a turnover in March due to the renovation, which means that the fall in turnover is 100% compared to the same period last year.
This means that Tjuvholmen Sjømagasin took more advantage of the situation and obtained more cash support than, for example, Ekebergrestauranten, which has the same owner, but which remained open until March 14, when the Furset group announced the closure of all its restaurants that were not yet closed. . Here too the inevitable fixed costs come into play.
The Ekeber restaurant had NOK 802,107 revenue in March and therefore has a “only” decrease of 71.43 percent in turnover, and is therefore paid less in cash than Tjuvholmen Sjømagasin.
The same is true of other restaurants that tried to remain open during all or part of the crisis.
This is how the size of the compensation is determined
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Must return
The tax administration is responsible for the scheme and its control. E24 has asked the Tax Agency about companies that have planned renovations and therefore have not planned to remain open, and who are still receiving support, should return the support:
– In general, without commenting on specific issues, we can say that if you do not meet the conditions to receive assistance, the assistance will be reimbursed. The company seeking support has a duty to provide truthful information and correct any errors detected. This is also explicitly deduced from section 10 of the Law, responds Hanne Kjørholt, section manager in the legal department of the Tax Administration.
Kjørholt further states that if the company cannot demonstrate that the drop in turnover is a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak, the subsidy must be repaid.
Furset confirms that the amount of NOK 355,720 will be refunded.
He doesn’t want to comment on the matter to E24 any more, except that there is a danger of mistakes with the new regulations being quickly introduced:
“With 15 companies to enter, there can be errors, both ways,” says Furset, citing companies that enter data from all of their subsidiaries.
The restaurant is still closed.
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These industries have received the most money from the state: restaurants charged the most
Own maemo
Tjuvholmen Sjømagasin is part of the Furset group, which operates several restaurants. Owner Bjørn Tore Furset, who created the group from one restaurant in 1997, now has 17 restaurants in the group according to his own website.
Furset also owns half of the award-winning Michelin Maemo restaurant.
The Dagens Næringsliv newspaper interviewed this weekend in Furset because the Furset group was one of the individual recipients who received the most cash support, totaling NOK 2.5 million. At that time, Furset stated:
– I certainly don’t feel like anyone wins. We have fixed costs of 6-7 million in total, so we pay a good percentage ourselves. Not so, in isolation, I have received a lot.
Check out everyone who has received cash assistance here:
