More and more MPs within the Left-Green Movement are demanding that Canadian Magma Energy’s acquisition of Icelandic energy company HS be revoked. The other coalition party, the Social Democratic Alliance, does not agree.
The government offices. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
While both parties agree that the laws on foreign investment must be discussed and modified at the Althingi parliament in the coming autumn, they disagree on the case of Magma, according to Fréttabladid’s sources.
Left-Green MP Árni Thór Sigurdsson stated yesterday—as Finance Minister and the party’s chairman, Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, had done the day before—that the acquisition was a dubious process, referring to the fact that it was conducted through Magma’s subsidiary in Sweden which appears to have been founded solely for that purpose.
Sigurdsson also hinted that other investors were kept out of the loop, calling for Minister of Economic Affairs Gylfi Magnússon to investigate the affair.
A number of Left-Green MPs are also calling for Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir, who is chairwoman of the Social Democrats, to take a stand.
The Social Democrats are concerned that if the agreement with Magma is disturbed, the company’s investment in the country will be lost, which could repel other investors.
According to Fréttabladid, if the coalition parties won’t agree on launching an investigation into the acquisition, a Left-Green MP might submit a bill on the appointment of an investigative commission for that purpose in the autumn.
Click here to read more about the Magma Energy debate.
