Prime minister’s husband sold stake as register update was delayed

Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir’s husband sold his 9.59 per cent stake in Munnbitinn ehf. for ISK 102,113 in July, while her parliamentary interests register was updated a month after her office requested technical help, mbl.is reported.

An aide to Frostadóttir contacted the Icelandic parliament’s office on October 2 to request assistance with updating her register entry. She received technical help from a staff member on November 4, and the revised entry was published that day.

Frostadóttir had initiated the change in early October, according to a response from her aide. The company was removed from her interests register. The parliament’s office said it does not verify the information MPs enter or reassess their decisions, though it may flag apparent errors in a form.

Munnbitinn, which operated Minigarðurinn, requested bankruptcy proceedings last week. Viðskiptablaðið reported in July that the company had negative equity and had lost about ISK 65 million in total over the previous two years.

Frostadóttir’s aide said neither the prime minister nor her husband, Einar Bergur Ingvarsson, was involved in the company’s day-to-day operations or business decisions. MPs are not required to list their spouses’ assets, but Frostadóttir chose to include them in her register for transparency, the aide said.