This is how the social support company supported the Oil Fund-Tangen on its way to the boss job – VG

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– It may be incompetent

The Petroleum Fund belongs to Norges Bank and the Ministry of Finance. Sejersted is a lawyer for the government and the Ministry of Finance.

– Can there be situations where the Office of the Attorney General receives allocations related to the Petroleum Fund?

– Yes, the Government Ombudsman may receive an assignment from the Ministry of Finance regarding legal issues related to the Petroleum Fund. In that case, it wouldn’t normally be a problem if you meet Nicolai. But if a possible conflict of interest arises, I would declare myself disqualified.

Strict interpretation

Karl Harald Søvig is a lawyer and professor at the University of Bergen School of Law. He tells VG that the eligibility rules do not require a conflict of interest, as described in Sejersted.

– If the Government Prosecutor’s office is asked to provide information on regulations for the day-to-day administration of the fund, or anything else that directly affects Tang’s position and role, Sejersted will be incompetent, Søvig tells VG.

Søvig has led the administrative law research group at the university for several years.

Sejersted heads the government attorney’s office.

– If Sejersted is incompetent, the entire office will be. So you have to get advice from others, says Søvig.

Lutvann, 1987

A photo VG found in the newspaper archives shows a young Tangen bent over Russian books on the premises of the “Defense and Intelligence Service School” at Lutvann in Oslo in 1987. Tangen was an administrator among the 16 students.

Sejersted is not named in the article, but confirms that he is in the picture. He sits at a classroom desk in front of the board.

Sejersted tells VG that he met Tangen in the Armed Forces and that they have been friends ever since. Also a philosopher Henrik Syse (53), he climbed this hill in the course of Russia and became friends with Tangen. At the time, his father, Jan P. Syse, was a parliamentary leader on the right, and two years later he became prime minister.

– No hidden agenda

Later, Henrik Syse became an ethics advisor for the Petroleum Fund, he is currently a researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and a member of the committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize.

– We became good friends. When I worked ethically at the Oil Fund and he (Tangen, ed.) Created his own fund, we had more contact. I knew I had worked extensively with ethics and corporate social responsibility and asked if I could join the board. I think it was very exciting that they let me.

Syse also sits on the board of directors of the Tang Foundation for Charity Work.

– Did you talk together when you applied for a job as head of the Petroleum Fund?

– When I was in that process, we talked a little. In early March, those in charge of the hiring process contacted me, says Syse, who doesn’t know if he was actually listed as a reference.

– What did you tell them?

– The conversation is confidential, but I hardly said in a big way what I couldn’t say publicly. Nicolai is an exceptionally socially conscious person. It has no hidden agenda. He is genuinely committed to doing the job he does well on behalf of those he manages, Syse says.

Rejects impact

At the Philadelphia seminar, politics, economics, leadership, and health policy were on the agenda. Tangen hired two private jets and covered lodging, food and entertainment for many of the 130 participants.

Both Syse, Sejersted and several other VG interviewees say that the seminar in the USA. USA He was not a party to or had any impact on Tangens’ path to chief position in the Petroleum Fund. The same goes for Tangen himself for VG.

The guest list to which VG has gained access shows that several other Norwegian business and political profile names also participated.

Among the participants was Knut Brundtland. The former attorney is now chairman of the board of brokerage houses Abg Sundal Collier and various art institutions. He is the son of former Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland (Ap).

He and Tangen have been friends for a long time and share an interest in art, Brundtland tells VG.

– Did he or the headhunters contact you regarding employment?

– No, not by the headhunters or those who would advise Norges Bank on employment.

– But by Tangen?

– Yes, he contacted me and asked me for advice.

– What was your most important advice?

– I keep it to myself. I consider this to be a private conversation.

– Extremely skilled

Schibsted CEO Kristin Skogen Lund was among the participants. Lund, who was previously NHO president, even contributed during one session. Trip and stay covered pliers.

– I have known Nicolai since he was 18 years old. He was Russian President in Kristiansand and I was Russian President in Oslo. We are not direct friends, but we have had contact, says Lund.

She tells VG that Tangen asked her to be contacted by the scouts that they should find a new head of the Petroleum Fund.

– I was one of many on your reference list. I received a phone call from a headhunter where I emphatically noted that I had attended this seminar and could therefore be perceived as somewhat incompetent. He already knew, because Tangen had informed them. It was not among the references contacted by the hiring committee, Lund tells VG.

NUPI Director advised

NUPI director Ulf Sverdrup, who also attended the seminar, says Tangen consulted with him in January or February.

– One of the things I said was that “then you should expect full transparency.” He agreed with that. The second was that I said that the Fund would receive more and more political attention and would become a more important part of the Norwegian public debate. The same will apply to the owner of the fund.