Says the sale went well and declares responsibility for it

„I think there are suggestions in the report about things that could have gone better.“ But it is not claimed anywhere in the report, unlike what many have claimed today, that we have not been doing this as required by law. My responsibility, it is perhaps the most in this here: To leave the bank in the sales process. This is a huge political decision,“ said Bjarni in Kastljós tonight. And in his opinion, the sale was a success.

• See also: The sale that angered the nation

The state sold its 22.5% stake in the second phase of Íslandsbanki’s privatization in March this year. For that, the treasury received 53 billion ISK. However, the state’s share was sold at a discount, which amounted to five kroner per share.

The state auditor does not doubt that the sale was beneficial to the state treasury, but says that it cannot be stated that the sale was as beneficial to the state treasury as it could have been.

Bjarni said that nothing in the report indicates that the government’s main goal with the sale would have been achieved if the price of the shares had been higher. Among other things, the main goal was to ensure distributed and diversified ownership of Íslandsbanki.

Transparency very lacking

But the National Auditor points out more, in particular the lack of transparency and information about the sale. The National Audit Office therefore considers critically that the presentations by the Ministry of Finance and the Economy and the Swedish Banking Authority on the bidding arrangement to Alþingi and the public were not suitable to shed sufficient light on the true nature of the bidding arrangement, as stated in the report.

There, Bjarni admits a mistake:

„In retrospect, perhaps we should have been more clear about how this kind of sales arrangement works in practice.“

Denies that he did not dare to meet Kristrúna

At the end of the interview, Bjarni was asked why he made it a condition for his arrival that he would be interviewed alone, and not against an opposition MP. He completely denied having refused to meet anyone and said there was no problem meeting anyone to discuss the sale of Íslandsbanki. Bjarni’s assistant had responded to Kastljós’s request for an interview on Bjarni’s behalf and said that he would attend, provided the conditions were met that he sat alone in an interview.

Kristrún Frostadóttir, the chairperson of Samfylkingin, had a word about this on Facebook shortly before the show aired. There she says that Bjarni did not dare to meet her.

Want a commission of inquiry

Kristrún then came after Bjarna, together with Sigmar Guðmundsson from Viðreisn, to discuss the issues. Kristrún said that it had not been the role of the Auditor General to determine the responsibility of ministers. For this, the Alþingi’s investigative committee, which she called for, would be set up.

„It would have been interesting to be able to stand here against the minister earlier when he was just asserting that there was actually nothing to say about whether the law was broken in this report. It was always clear when this case was handled in a process by the State Auditor, that the State Auditor was not going to assert legal responsibility and political responsibility in this case.“

Aum politics at VG and Framsørk

Sigmar took the same line and said that the government has lost confidence in carrying out further privatization of the state’s shares in financial companies. He then shot hard at the coalition parties of the Independence Party in the government.

„When it comes to political responsibility, it is the case that when the previous sale was held, ministers drummed up one after another in the media and beat their chests about what had gone well, then they were completely responsible. But when things go wrong, an entire organization can be slaughtered because people are trying to avoid responsibility. And I have to say that today’s ministers, not least the ministers of the Progressive Party and the chairman of VG and the prime minister, I have found it incredibly far-fetched and actually a bit inhuman how far they have gone in placing all the responsibility on the Banking Authority but not recognizing anything in his own way. It’s just incredibly poor politics.“