Polish billionaire wanted to establish a company on Bouvet Island

Bouvet IslandNorway.Bouvet Island.Photo: Marius Bratrein / Norsk Polarinstitutt / NTB scanpix

Costs meant nothing to the Polish billionaire who wanted to establish themselves on the world’s most isolated island – the uninhabited volcanic island Norwegian Bouvet Island in the Southern Ocean.

A number of Norwegian institutions and several ministries were in May and June approached by the Polish law firm Skarbiec with a request to establish the company “Overseas Advisory Services Scarbiec” in the Bouvet Island.

– Core business will be legal advice with specialization in international tax law, the request said which had wandered from agency to agency in Norway.

Tax havens

Scarbiec presents itself as Poland’s leading consulting firm in international tax planning and financial consulting. In their own presentation, the firm says it has placed 2.5 billion zloty (5.3 billion) on behalf of more than 1,000 clients in more than 50 countries and territories.
Scarbiec also offers customization for companies that want to put money in tax havens, establish hedge funds or foundations.

Attractive address

But the company claims it was not tax planning that lay behind the many inquiries to Brønnøysund Register, tax administration, Norwegian Polar Institute, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, Climate and Environment Ministry and the Industry and Fisheries Ministry.

– We did it on behalf of a client who wanted to establish themselves and get an address at the world’s end. We explained to him that Norway is not a tax haven, and we assumed that there would be no tax benefits by establishing itself there, says Scarbiec lawyer Mariusz Pajduszewski to news agency NTB.

Forbes-listed

He will not say who gave Scarbiec mission and claims that the client did not specify why he wanted the Bouvet-link to their company.

– The client perceived it as good PR to be able to demonstrate that they are represented at the world’s most remote place. The establishment costs do not mean anything for one of Poland’s richest, which is also listed on Forbes list of world’s richest. It is more about the madness by doing it that matters, says Pajduszewski.

The Forbes list of the world’s richest billionaires counts two Polish nationals who are men: Media and Telecommunications mogul Zygmunt Solorz-Zak and real estate king Michal Solowow.

Sad

Which of the two that got relayed a refusal is not known. But according to Mariusz Pajduszewski, the disappointment was great.

– He was quite upset when we had to tell that it is not possible to establish a company on Bouvet Island. It is a pity because we think many others would be interested in having such a spectacular address, he said.
It was the Industry and Fisheries Ministry which put the nail in the coffin for Bouvet-creation.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today