Minister says he only sought information in Landsvirkjun talks

Finance Minister Daði Már Kristófersson says his January discussions with the board of state-owned company Landsvirkjun, without its chief executive present, were within the law because he was only seeking information. He made the comments in an interview with Morgunblaðið after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

“I was asking for information about the status of these matters. There was no message hidden in that,” he said. The issues concerned a final payment related to the sale of Landsnet and a dispute between the companies.

Kristófersson did not say whether holding the discussions had been a mistake. He said similar talks had taken place before without anyone objecting.

He also defended informal preliminary meetings of the Landsvirkjun board without the chief executive, whose legality has been questioned. Kristófersson said such meetings were common at other state-owned companies. Asked for an example, he named Arion Bank, which is not state-owned, but said he could not name a state-owned company. He said he continued to trust the Landsvirkjun board to appoint a new chief executive.