Norwegian chairman Svein Harald Øygard says that the controversial bonuses to top executives Jacob Schram and Geir Karlsen were paid out on Friday.
“The first part of the bonuses was paid out on June 25, 2021, and the remaining part is expected to be paid out in July 2021, depending on the expiry of the loan agreement where these conditions are regulated,” writes Norwegian’s chairman Svein Harald Øygard in an SMS to NTB.
Earlier this week, newspaper E24 wrote that the decision and payment of the bonuses to Norwegian’s former CEO Jacob Schram and the new CEO Geir Karlsen were made in May.
Each bonus (Schram’s and Karlsen’s) amounts to NOK 11 million. In addition, the rest of the management in the company received a total of NOK 8 million in bonuses – a total of NOK 30 million.
These bonuses are on top of other bonuses and were confirmed by the previous board, which was replaced on June 4.
Ban on bonuses
Last year, Minister of Trade and Industry Iselin Nybø (V) banned the payment of bonuses in Norwegian as a condition for the government to provide financial support to the company (a government-guaranteed loan), which had major financial problems at the time. According to the government, the ban applied until May 26 this year.
On Thursday this week, the Minister of Trade and Industry, via the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s legal adviser, the law firm Wiersholm, sent a letter to Norwegian’s board demanding, among other things, information about when the bonuses were paid out.
“We have received the letter from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and we will answer the letter as soon as possible,” Øygard wrote to news bureau NTB.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayFinance
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