Minister’s actions leave questions in Landsvirkjun dispute

Several questions remain in the dispute over Landsvirkjun, a company often described as the nation’s golden egg, despite clarifications given by minister Daði Már Kristófersson to parliament, mbl.is reports. They include how the minister shared information, the limits of contact between his ministry and the company’s board, and how the board responded to concerns raised by former chief executive Hörður Arnarson.

Daði acknowledged that his earlier answers about board meetings held without Hörður had not been precise enough. He had said there were no formal board meetings without the chief executive. The board later confirmed that it had met twice without Hörður to discuss his comments on its practices. Hörður also left two meetings when matters concerning him were discussed.

The minister said he understood that a change to a planned meeting in January could have looked bad to Hörður. At Hörður’s suggestion, he and board representatives were due to meet the minister on January 7 to discuss relations between Landsvirkjun and the ministry. That meeting did not take place. Instead, the minister met the board without Hörður the day before.

An email from Hörður to the finance minister says board chair Brynja Baldursdóttir told him on December 23 that the ministry, at the minister’s request, wanted him to stay away from the meeting and that the agenda had changed.

Daði denied to Morgunblaðið that the meeting with Hörður had been changed in that way or that he had asked for Hörður to be excluded. He said there had been two separate meetings, and that the meeting with Hörður was simply not pursued after it was postponed.

The board chair later said the board itself had decided not to pursue the meeting with Hörður because it considered it unnecessary. It remains unclear why Hörður appears to have been told by the chair in December 2025 that the minister had not requested his presence.

Daði also said Hörður met ministry staff on February 16 without raising concerns about governance. The minister said he had met the Landsvirkjun board only twice; other meetings had been with ministry specialists, as he said was customary at other state-owned companies.

Daði confirmed he had received information about serious disagreements within Landsvirkjun on September 11, more than a month before he answered a parliamentary question about Hörður’s departure on October 19. An email from ministry specialist Gylfi Þorsteinn Gunnlaugsson described Hörður’s allegations of increased contact between the board and ministry, a meeting without the chief executive, and interference in day-to-day operations. It also described a serious breakdown of trust between the board and chief executive and referred to a legal opinion obtained by the board.