Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.12.2019, Síða 2

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2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • December 1 2019
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ICELANDIC
CONNECTION
Vol. 70 #3 (2019)
ISSN
#1920-423X
Feed Your Icelandic Soul
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Vol. 70 #4 (2019)
ISSN
#1920-423X
Seven teachers from
Leikskólinn Arnarsmári
in Kópavogur, Iceland,
were in Winnipeg from
November 12 to 15 to attend
a conference sponsored by the
city’s Pembina Trails School
Division called Restitution,
which focused on teaching
young children how to be self-
disciplined. Their stay included
a site visit to École Tuxedo
Park. They also enjoyed a
brief visit to the Scandinavian
Centre and a trip to Assiniboine
Park where they saw squirrels
and deer, which are not seen
in Iceland. It was a delight to
have such a spirited group of
educators from Iceland here
to visit. The seven teachers in
attendance were (left to right):
Hildur Kristín Helgadóttir,
Elín Guðrún Ingvarsdóttir,
Hrafnhildur Steinþórsdóttir,
Guðný Þórisdóttir, Sigríður
Guðjónsdóttir, Brynja Björk
Kristjánsdóttir (Principal),
and Sigurlaug Tanja
Gunnarsdóttir. – Submitted by
Sonja Lundstrom
PHOTO: SONJA LUNDSTROM
Teachers from Leikskólinn Arnarsmári
Icelandic teachers attend Winnipeg conference
Gleðileg jól og farsælt komandi ár
to our Icelandic friends in
Canada, the USA and Iceland
from the members of the
Vatnabyggð Icelandic Club of Saskatchewan
To become a member of the Vatnabyggð Icelandic Club of Saskatchewan,
contact Cindy Goodman at (306) 554-2205 or email goodmancc@hotmail.com
Various Media – National
broadcaster RÚV’s investigative
program Kveikur drew a
dark picture of the company
Samherji’s operations in
Namibia. Samherji is one of the
largest companies in Iceland’s
fish industry. The program
drew on documents and emails
released by WikiLeaks, which
revealed Samherji’s business
practices. These documents
came originally from Jóhannes
Stefánsson, a former project
manager at Samherji in Namibia.
According to the documents,
Samherji paid highly placed
Namibian politicians and
officials hundreds of millions of
Icelandic krónur – as much as
1.5 billion krónur ($16.2 million
Canadian). The alleged purpose
was to secure a valuable quota
in the country’s fisheries
jurisdiction. In addition,
Samherji exploited tax shelters
to get profit out of the country.
On November 13, Namibia’s
minister of fisheries, Bernhard
Esau, and minister of justice,
Sacky Shanghala, both resigned.
In light of Kveikur’s
coverage, district prosecutor
Ólafur Þór Hauksson confirmed
he would examine Samherji’s
affairs in Namibia. He said that
Namibia’s government bore
the main weight of the case.
However, the alleged bribes paid
to influential Namibians are only
part of the story. The WikiLeaks
documents and discussions about
them and related documents raise
further questions.
The whistle-blower,
Jóhannes Stefánsson, told RÚV
that parties tried to avoid paying
taxes in Namibia. Cyprus plays
a key role in this aspect, where
ten of Samherji’s companies are
holding assets. From there the
company charters vessels and
sells the catch. Samherji holds
its assets in Namibia through
a Mauritian company. In turn,
companies in Cyprus own
that company. The Mauritian
company makes getting profit
out of Namibia possible. This
arrangement avoids tax.
On the other hand, the
banking transactions went
through the Norwegian state
bank DNB. Samherji then
made transfers from Norway to
Namibians’ accounts in Dubai.
Samherji called those payments
consultancy fees. However,
Jóhannes called them bribes.
Samherji issued a press
release on the evening of
November 12 saying that, until
recently, they had no knowledge
of the scope and nature of
Jóhannes’s business practices.
Furthermore, the company said
it was not certain the practices
were as he described them.
The company has hired the
international law firm Wikborg
Rein in Norway to investigate
the operations in Namibia. That
investigation will skip nothing,
said Samherji, and the company
will release the findings when
they are available.
“These are not procedures
we are familiar with,” said
Samherji’s CEO, Þorsteinn
Már Baldvinsson, in the press
statement. The matter has
understandably provoked a
storm of attention in Iceland. It
also stretches into the political
arena. Minster of Fisheries
and Agriculture Kristján Þór
Júlíússon was chairman of
Samherji’s board of directors
through 2000. However, he
has not been involved in its
operations over the last 19 years.
Reprinted with permission
from Icelandic News Briefs,
published by KOM PR.
Accusations of corruption and bribery at Icelandic firm
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Scott Johannson CPA, CA
www.onbusiness.ca
d. 204.985.4008
m. 204.985.6767
f. 204.255.6045
e. scottj@onbusiness.ca
25 St. Anne’s Road
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2M 2Y1
Gleðileg jól
Susan Lougheed CMA
d. 204.985.6760
m. 204.985.6767
e. sue@onbusiness.ca
25 St. Anne’s Road
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2M 2Y1
www.onbusiness.ca
Chartered Accountants Inc.
Susan Lougheed CMA
d. 204.985.6760
m. 204.985.6767
e. sue@onbusiness.ca
25 St. Anne’s Road
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2M 2Y1
www.onbusiness.ca
Chartered Accountants Inc.
Scott Johannson CPA, CA
d. 204.985.4008
m. 204.985.6767
f. 204.255.6045
e. scottj@onbusiness.ca
25 St. Anne’s Road
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2M 2Y1
Scott Johannson CPA, CA
d. 204.985.4008
m. 204.985.6767
f. 204.255.6045
e. scottj@onbusiness.ca
25 St. Anne’s Road
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2M 2Y1
www.onbusiness.ca www.onbusiness.ca
Susan Lougheed CMA
d. 204.985.6760
m. 204.985.6767
e. sue@onbusiness.ca
25 St. Anne’s Road
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2M 2Y1
. i .
Chartered Accountants Inc.
Susan Lougheed CMA
d. 204.985.6760
m. 204.985.6767
e. sue@onbusiness.ca
25 St. Anne’s Road
innipeg, anitoba, R2 2Y1
. i .
Chartered Accountants Inc.
Eric Silva CPA, CA
d. 204.985.6764
m. 204.985.6767
f. 204.255.6045
e. eric onbusiness.ca
25 St. Anne’s Road
innipeg, anitoba, R2 2Y1
Eric Silva CPA, CA
d. 204.985.6764
m. 204.985.6767
f. 204.255.6045
e. eric onbusiness.ca
25 St. Anne’s Road
innipeg, anitoba, R2 2Y1
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visir.is – Composer Hildur
Guðnadóttir was nominated for
a Grammy Award for her music
in Chernobyl. She has clearly
caught Hollywood’s attention –
for example, she won an Emmy
Award in September for her
music in this film. In addition,
she received high praise for her
music in Joker, one of the year’s
most popular films. She is the
only woman nominated in the
music in visual media category
this year. The others nominated
with her are Alan Silvestri for
the film Avengers: Endgame,
Ramin Djawadi for the eighth
and last series of Game of
Thrones, Hans Zimmer for Lion
King, and Marc Shaiman for
Mary Poppins Returns.
Reprinted with permission
from Icelandic News Briefs,
published by KOM PR.
ICELANDIC
COMPOSER
NOMINATED