Maybe it would be best for both Jón Bjarnason and the whole country if he were to move to Grímsey, an uninhabited island in the West Fjords.
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Iceland’s cabinet met at the presidential residence Bessastadir at noon today where new ministers were announced: Gudbjartur Hannesson of the Social Democrats will lead a new Welfare Ministry and Ögmundur Jónasson of the Left-Greens a new Ministry for Internal Affairs.
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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of a hike to Hraunsvatn lake in Öxnadalur valley in north Iceland, which lies at a height of 490 meters, interlocked between two steep mountains and a small glacier with a view of the majestic Hraundrangar peaks.
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Fjallabyggd (“Mountain Settlement”) is a skier’s dream. Its slopes are perfect for slaloming and there are also tracks for telemark skiing. Winter sporting enthusiasts can also go ice skating or rent snowmobiles. In summer, Fjallabyggd turns into a paradise for hikers. Read this special promotion about one of Iceland’s best hidden gems.
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The Icelandic government has earmarked loans Landsbanki has granted to its customers and are to be repaid in the next seven years to repay Icesave deposits. The loans are worth ISK 662 billion (USD 5.2 billion, EUR 3.7 billion), more than half of the bank’s assets.
The headquarters of Landsbanki in Reykjavík. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
The resolution committee of the old Landsbanki estimates that its assets—after taking losses following the banking collapse into account—will be worth ISK 1,195 billion (USD 9.3 billion, EUR 6.7 billion) after seven years, Morgunbladid reports.
While more than half of these assets are loans granted to Landsbanki’s customers, most of the remaining assets are financial instruments with a maturity date in the next seven years.
Additionally, it is expected that the new Landsbanki (NBI) will pay ISK 284 billion (USD 2.2 billion, EUR 1.6 billion) to the old Landsbanki after accounts for transferred assets have been settled.
The agreement reached among Icelandic, Dutch and British authorities on Icesave last weekend, assumes that the loan granted to the Icelandic state to cover the Icesave deposits will be interest-only for the next seven years.
According to Fréttabladid, the Landsbanki subsidiary in London lent at least ISK 130 billion (USD 1.0 billion, EUR 730 million) to Icelandic companies involved in the so-called “outvasion”—investments in foreign markets.
The highest loans were granted to Novator Pharma, which is owned by Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, and companies related to Baugur, as revealed in the Stöd 2 news program yesterday evening.
While the majority of loans granted by Landsbanki in London went to foreign companies, 18 percent of these loans went to Icelandic companies.
However, individual loans to Icelandic companies were much larger than individual loans granted to foreign companies.
Novator, for example, was granted a loan of GBP 205 million (USD 327 million, EUR 235 million), while the highest individual loan to a foreign company amounted to GBP 58 million (USD 92 million, EUR 66 million).
Novator took the loan to finance the takeover of Actavis, which then repays it. Novator’s outstanding debt to Landsbanki amounts to around ISK 40 billion (USD 310 million, EUR 220 million) and that of Baugur and related companies to ISK 58 billion (USD 450 million, EUR 320 million).
According to Fréttabladid’s sources from within Landsbanki, all of Baugur’s and Novator’s best assets were used as collateral for the loans in question.
Click here to read more about Icesave.
The second issue of the print edition of Iceland Review 2010 has just been published. Entitled “Under the Volcano” the magazine dedicates 20 pages, words and pictures, to the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull glacier which made headlines all over the word. New subscribers will receive the book 2010 Eruptions as a gift and all subscribers are part of a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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Dadi Gudbjörnsson's art with its smiley faces, Aladdin's lamps, gleaming hearts, blue mountains and psychedelic flora of unearthly origin reminds me of the cheesy R.E.M. song “Shiny Happy People”. The sugar-sweet naivety fails to amuse me but I must admit it infects my mood with delirious joy.
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Former President of Iceland Vigdís Finnbogadóttir turned 80 on 15 April this year and Mayor Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir—in making her an Honorary Citizen of Reykjavík to mark the occasion—observed that Finnbogadóttir’s life was interwoven with that of Reykjavík. In June 1980 Finnbogadóttir made history when she became the world’s first democratically elected female head of state.
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Today, August 30, and tomorrow is your last chance to visit the exhibition “Eau De Parfum” by Andrea Maack at the Spark Design Space in Reykjavík. In the exhibition space, Maack introduces three perfumes that are the result of her collaboration with French perfumery apf aromes & parfums.
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