Extra supplementary budget for 2023 - Support for Ukraine and measures targeted at companies and households as a result of high energy prices

Edward Riedl (M)

Madam Speaker! At 4 o'clock on February 24, almost a year ago, Russia launched a full-scale war against its neighbor Ukraine. In a televised speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had made a decision on a military intervention in Ukraine. In the speech, he also urged Ukraine to lay down its weapons and warned other countries against interfering – otherwise, consequences never before witnessed would be expected. This is what Putin said in his speech.

Just a few minutes after he had delivered the speech, reports of explosions all over Ukraine arrived - bombs in Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Mariupol and in many other places. Shortly before 5 in the morning, an hour later, Ukraine's Foreign Minister announces on Twitter that Russia has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Extra supplementary budget for 2023 - Support for Ukraine as well as measures aimed at companies and households as a result of high energy prices

The Ukrainian population has since been experiencing all the horrors of the war. For those of us who have never experienced war, it is difficult to fully imagine exactly what it entails. Russia's president Vladimir Putin bears the full responsibility for this illegal and unjust war.

The Ukrainian will to defend and defense capability have struck the rest of the world with amazement. But military and humanitarian assistance has been and is necessary for Ukraine to be able to defend its country. That Ukraine wins is important for Sweden. Yes, it is important for all of Europe. That Ukraine wins will be decisive for the path Europe will take. Ukraine's cause is ours, and it is our duty to stand up and do what we can to help the Ukrainians in their struggle for freedom.

Sweden has already contributed extensive support packages to Ukraine. There has been broad political consensus regarding this in this chamber. It has been military, humanitarian and financial support, but also money for civil crisis management, reconstruction and reform support. All of this is necessary.

Madam Speaker! Today we are debating the government's proposal for an extra supplementary budget, support for Ukraine, as well as measures aimed at companies and households as a result of high energy prices. Three proposals are included in the government's extra supplementary budget, which we will decide on later today here in the Riksdag. In addition to the largest support package to date with defense materiel for Ukraine, it concerns funds for gas price subsidies for households in southern Sweden and new opportunities for companies to postpone their tax payments to get through difficult times.

We will make a decision today on the largest package of defense materiel to Ukraine to date. It is also supported by a unanimous Riksdag, which means there is strength behind this. It is a comprehensive package of up to 4.3 billion kronor that is to be donated to Ukraine in accordance with the proposal.

The package contains heavy and advanced weapons and weapons systems: the Carl Gustaf grenade launcher with ammunition, Pansarskotts 86, Pansarvärnsrobotar 57, and Stridsfordon 90. Furthermore, the defense authorities in Sweden are given the conditions to re-acquire materiel equivalent to that which is donated to Ukraine. The proposal is part of the support package to Ukraine that the government presented on January 19 this year. The package also includes assignments to the Armed Forces to prepare the transfer of the Archer artillery system as well as a new Swedish-Ukrainian procurement project.

All parties in the Riksdag stand behind this proposal. This shows our determination and the Swedish determination when it comes to helping Ukraine. We are now doing this in an extra supplementary budget so that the measures can be implemented quickly. With an ongoing war in our vicinity, we need to act here and now.

Madam Speaker! When we finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel after two years of pandemic, Russia started a full-scale war against its neighbor. It is now war in Europe. We have an energy crisis and high inflation.

Swedish households and companies are now affected, both by what is happening in the world and by previous decisions made here at home in Sweden. The phasing out of nuclear power is something Swedish households and companies are paying a very high price for today. The new government and the four coalition parties are doing everything they can here and now in the acute situation. At the same time, work has begun to rebuild new nuclear power to ensure cheap, reliable, and carbon-free electricity production.

The government and the four coalition parties have already taken several measures to support households and companies affected by high electricity prices as a consequence of the decommissioned nuclear power. This includes electricity support for households and companies in southern Sweden, which was later supplemented with electricity support also for households in Norrland when prices also became high there, targeted electricity support for electricity-intensive companies, and investments in energy efficiency, among others.

Today, Madam Speaker, we are also establishing a gas subsidy for households in southern Sweden. It covers 27,000 households, hard-working Swedish families who are struggling to make ends meet. They heat their villas with gas. With this subsidy, they will receive approximately 12,000 kronor in gas support for the period October 2021 - September 2022. This concerns households connected to the west Swedish gas system. The subsidy is designed to correspond to the electricity subsidy during the same period. The gas price subsidy will amount to 79 öre per kilowatt-hour.

With all the decisions the new government has made, Sweden will have established more extensive electricity support than, for example, Finland, Belgium, and many other countries in Europe. But despite the fact that Swedish households and companies have received more electricity support than in other countries, it will not fully compensate for the high electricity prices. In the long term, we therefore need to rebuild nuclear power in Sweden to get cheaper electricity again, and that is the government's highest priority.

The third proposal in the government's proposal for an extra supplementary budget is to give companies new and expanded opportunities for deferrals of tax payments. From February 13, companies shall be given expanded opportunities for temporary tax deferrals. The purpose is to support sound and viable companies affected by liquidity problems as a result of high inflation and high electricity prices. Thus, we save jobs in difficult times. The proposal implies, among other things, that the upper time limit for the deferrals is moved from February 12 to September 12, 2023. Deferrals may also be granted for accounting periods that fell in April through June 2022, and the maximum number of deferral months is increased from nine to twelve.

Madam Speaker! With this, I vote in favor of the committee's proposal.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mikael Damberg (S)

Madam Speaker! Edward Riedl describes the proposals in this supplementary budget. There is much we share. We stand behind the supplementary budget – I want to start by saying that. But the description that Swedish households or companies have received support is a far-reaching interpretation because there is still very great uncertainty as to when the support will be paid out.

I have some questions about the perspective and whether the government and the coalition partner Sverigedemokraterna understand how households and companies are doing right now in Sweden. We are now receiving reports that as many as a fifth of the households in our country have had to use savings to buy food, and we are receiving reports that electricity debts are increasing at Kronofogden. In that case, it becomes interesting to also have the time perspective clarified. The measures we are making in the extra amendment budget are, after all, bandages on the wounds because the government has not implemented the electricity support, as was promised during the election campaign, and that it is delayed. It becomes a liquidity problem for companies but also for many households that are struggling to pay the bills.

My simple questions, which are linked to this, are: When can we expect that all households will receive this electricity support so that they can plan their lives? This also applies to those in northern Sweden who have now, after much pressure, received notice that they will receive electricity support? When can Swedish companies expect to receive support for the high electricity bills that have already occurred during the winter? There is enormous uncertainty across the country regarding how to manage liquidity. The risk is that it leads to layoffs if clear notices are not received.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Edward Riedl (M)

Madam Speaker! Let me first and foremost acknowledge what Mikael Damberg said at the beginning: that there is broad support for the government's extra supplementary budget, not least in the parts concerning support for Ukraine. There, the previous government also did a great deal of good. That is good. It sends a good signal to the rest of the world. Let us begin in agreement.

Mr. Speaker, I am provoked when I now hear Mikael Damberg, in a sympathetic manner, standing and telling how tough the Swedish households have it as a result of the government, in which Mikael Damberg himself was a minister for eight years, shut down several nuclear reactors, ensured that Sweden had the highest fuel prices in the entire world, and made political decisions that step by step have placed a burden on the load for the Swedish households.

This government, consisting of the four parties, is now doing everything to reverse the policy that put Swedish households and companies in this very difficult situation. In the short term, we are doing what we can to establish extensive support for Swedish households and companies as a result of the energy prices. We have begun lowering the costs for refueling diesel and gasoline. At the next turn of the year, we will conclude the extreme project that the previous government was responsible for regarding biofuel blending to such levels that Sweden had the highest prices in the entire world for, for example, diesel. We are going to do something about all of this.

The first part of the electricity subsidies will begin to be paid out within a few weeks. Some subsidies will have to wait for a little longer during the spring. In my next contribution, Madam Speaker, I will speak further about exactly when the different subsidies will arrive.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mikael Damberg (S)

Madam Speaker! To the history first: Just a couple of years ago, Sweden had Europe's lowest electricity prices. I can state that last year, Sweden was the country that exported the most electricity in the entire EU. But everyone sees that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has driven up electricity and gas prices across Europe. It is that which has changed the playing field and also changed how the market functions for electricity pricing, in a way that I believe is completely unreasonable for very many people who think it is strange that we produce a lot of electricity in Sweden but have to pay German electricity prices because they have not transitioned their electricity system. It is a systemic error that one must work on.

But today's debate is about the fact that the government gave very clear promises. The new electricity support was to be in place on November 1st. Support was to be received well before Christmas. These announcements are simply being pushed forward in time. That is why one must put bandages on the wounds. One must present an extra-amendment budget that provides relief.

I have no problem with that, but I note that the government has said no to the Social Democrats' proposal for a gas and electricity bill emergency. The government has said no to crisis calls regarding support for households when it comes to the households' economy. They said no to our proposal for increased child allowances during this winter. They have significantly delayed the revenue cap for electricity producers, which could have brought in hundreds of millions of kronor that could have gone back to companies and households all over Sweden. Thus, one does not get that effect.

I can state that Edward Riedl does not answer the question regarding the timeframe. One should wait a little while during the spring. When during the spring can households in northern Sweden expect to receive the electricity support, and when will Swedish companies receive a timetable for when they will receive the electricity support? This affects their liquidity. It could risk affecting their notices and thus also employment in Sweden going forward.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Edward Riedl (M)

Madam Speaker! Let us begin with the history, where Mikael Damberg is. Vladimir Putin is responsible for much misery and suffering in the world, but it was not Putin who shut down nuclear reactors in Sweden. It was not Putin who made political decisions that led to Sweden having the highest fuel prices in the entire world. It was political decisions made by the previous government, in which Mikael Damberg sat. It is a bit late to now wake up and see that Swedish households are struggling as a result of those decisions.

But having said that: The companies are having a tough time. Therefore, we are making a decision today to increase the number of deferral months, extend the deferrals, so that they can manage the liquidity. That is what Mikael Damberg is requesting. That is what we are therefore deciding on today, Madam Speaker, and Mikael Damberg also stands behind the proposal that the government is putting forward.

Why is it taking time? I can agree with Mikael Damberg on this. I and the government would have wished that it had gone faster. But Swedish households and companies pay approximately 42 percent of the capacity charges in the entire European Union. This gives Sweden unique opportunities to provide extensive support to households and companies outside of the state budget. If I do not misremember, Madam Speaker, it was also the previous government's intention if time had been available, if they had remained in power or had pushed through the proposals that it is spoken about that the new government should now get in place. This means that Sweden, even if it takes a little extra time, will receive very extensive support for households and companies to handle the increased costs. It is fundamentally good.

The timeline is: as soon as possible. The first payments will begin in a few weeks. The second, we will try to get in place as quickly as possible. Sweden differs, Madam Speaker, from the rest of Europe. This gives us opportunities to get out more money, but unfortunately, it takes a little longer. Swedish households and companies can, however, rely on that this government does everything to get it in place as quickly as possible and for it to be as extensive as possible.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mikael Damberg (S)

Madam Speaker! Russia's brutal war in Ukraine and the country's actions in the energy markets in Europe have given rise to a number of supplementary budget bills during the past year. Even this time, the proposals we are debating are very urgent. It concerns additional defense materiel for Ukraine and support for companies and households that are currently being pressed hard by the high prices of electricity and gas. I would therefore like to begin by moving for approval of the proposal in the committee report.

We Social Democrats support and welcome the government's proposal but are critical of the government's broken promises and sluggishness when it comes to supporting vulnerable households and companies.

The government parties and the Sweden Democrats have voted no to the Social Democrats' proposal for a gas and electricity bill emergency. The government has said no to a crisis call regarding household finances. The government has said no to a temporarily increased child allowance. The revenue cap for the electricity producers, which could have brought in hundreds of millions in rebates to Swedish households and companies, is significantly delayed. And it remains unclear when the support to northern Sweden for the high electricity prices will be paid out – the government initially opposed this support but has now changed its mind.

This week, a survey arrived, which I mentioned earlier, showing that every fifth person has been forced to use savings to buy food at some point during the last half-year. Earlier this year, new statistics from Kronofogden arrived showing that electricity debts have increased sharply.

They are often about families all over Sweden who live in electrically heated villas and who are now forced to turn over their coins to make the finances work. It is about companies that are fundamentally viable but which, due to the high electricity prices, cannot pay their bills.

Yesterday, when I was in Malmö, I took the opportunity to visit a local bakery. The time when semmeldagen is approaching is normally one of the highlights of the year. Business is in full swing, and the bakery can usually count on secure revenues that affect the business for the entire year.

This year, the situation looks radically different. The fact that the costs for electricity and other inputs have multiplied means that very many households and companies are tightening their belts. There is a palpable concern, and this is how it looks all around in the whole of Sweden.

At the same time, there is a lack of information regarding when the electricity support for companies will be in place. The risk is imminent that it will arrive too late, that the notices will arrive when staff have already had to be laid off or the business has already been forced into bankruptcy.

Today's proposal on expanded possibilities for temporary tax deferrals is good and necessary but can be likened to a bandage on the wounds. I also know that many companies feel a certain unease about taking on tax debts, as the consequences of being unable to pay a tax debt are quite extensive.

In that light, it becomes incomprehensible that the government could not agree to the proposal for an electricity bill emergency measure that could have alleviated the situation for households and given companies an opportunity to manage their liquidity. It would of course have been even better if the government had kept its promises regarding electricity support before Christmas. Now, the companies are left completely without notice, and that during the hardest winter in a very long time.

The government's inability to act resolutely means that, in practice, the responsibility is being shifted to the municipalities. Across our entire long country, municipalities are now preparing to meet the residents' needs as more and more people have problems paying their electricity bills on time. Some municipalities offer payment plans, others refrain from sending unpaid invoices to debt collection. Here and there, there are also municipalities that want to introduce their own electricity bill emergencies or offer installment payments at the municipal electricity companies.

From north to south, households are being squeezed by high prices on things as fundamental as electricity and food. Many are taking from their savings or borrowing from relatives to make ends meet. People are turning down the indoor temperature and saving on everything that affects electricity consumption. That is how reality looks, and sometimes I wonder if the government parties and Sverigedemokraterna truly realize this.

Madam Speaker! This extra supplementary budget also contains proposals to donate additional defense materiel to Ukraine. Since the war broke out, Sweden has provided several military support packages. In addition, we have increased the aid for humanitarian support to Ukraine.

It is unfortunately likely that the war will continue for a longer period. Therefore, it is important that Sweden continues to support Ukraine, and we Social Democrats stand behind the proposal to authorize the government to donate additional defense materiel worth 4.3 billion kronor.

We have, in broad political consensus, decided to continue the realignment of Swedish defense policy that was initiated during Stefan Löfven's government. Sweden's defense has today as its main task to defend the country against an armed attack, and we have carried out and are currently carrying out the largest buildup of the military defense since the 1950s.

To increase the country's defense capability, we have agreed that defense expenditures shall amount to 2 percent of GDP. The increased resources for defense shall be converted into an actual increase in defense capability. Therefore, a plan for replacement must also be included in the decisions that are made.

Madam Speaker! I finally want to emphasize that the security situation in Europe remains very serious. Russia is waging a war of indiscriminate aggression against Ukraine, a war that causes great human suffering. Russia's invasion of a democratic, independent country poses a threat to the security of all of Europe. We must continue to stand up for Ukraine's right to defend itself and continue to support Ukraine together with the EU member states.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Edward Riedl (M)

Madam Speaker! Let me begin in the same way again: It is good that there is broad consensus behind the Swedish aid to Ukraine, both militarily and civilly. It is also, of course, good that there is broad support in the chamber for the measures that the government wants to take otherwise to handle these very difficult times.

Mikael Damberg was a minister in the former Social Democratic government for eight years and, through political decisions, has been involved in ensuring that nuclear reactors were decommissioned, which has resulted in us having high electricity prices today and that the Swedish fuel prices were already the highest in the entire world even before the war in Ukraine. In that case, it is provoking for me when one then stands here and points at the next government for the consequences of one's own policy, Madam Speaker.

With that said, we also see that households are suffering from the high costs. Let me therefore first comment on what Mikael Damberg raises regarding the gas and electricity bill emergency that the Socialdemokraterna proposed before Christmas, Madam Speaker. The Finance Committee looked seriously at that proposal and convened the Finance Committee on a number of occasions during the Christmas and New Year holidays. We listened to the Ministry of Enterprise, and we listened to the electricity companies that would be to share in this. Everyone said that this was not a good proposal and that it could even result in the households with the greatest needs ending up further back in the queue.

It would not have been good, Madam Speaker. It is good that parties in the Riksdag come forward with proposals, and we look at them seriously. Sometimes proposals are good, sometimes they are not good, and in this case, it was not a good proposal.

I will return in my next speech with a question, because what I cannot understand, Madam Speaker, is how a gas and electricity bill emergency is better for companies than a tax deferral. But let me return to this.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mikael Damberg (S)

Madam Speaker! It is a false statement from Edward Riedl that political decisions were made to shut down nuclear power in that way. They were market-based decisions by companies that did not consider it profitable, largely because Sweden had Europe's lowest electricity prices. Consequently, it was not profitable to make the reinvestments in nuclear power that were required to meet the safety requirements we have for the operations.

Today, the situation is completely different. We still have a situation where other countries sometimes have higher electricity prices than Sweden. However, electricity prices in Sweden are no longer low, which is primarily due to Russia's actions and the energy war they are waging against all of Europe. In that case, one must act resolutely here and now to protect households and companies. One must also discuss the pricing model that I believe is unreasonable and which means that Sweden today, despite the fact that we export the most electricity in the entire EU, has to import the high gas prices from, for example, Germany, which has not transitioned its electricity system.

I would welcome a discussion on how we shape energy policy in Sweden in the long term. I can only state that when the Social Democrats were in government, we strove to achieve a cross-bloc energy agreement where the Moderates were involved, and then the Moderates, the day after the energy agreement, proclaimed that they had now saved Swedish nuclear power with this agreement. It therefore becomes a bit of a play on words in hindsight.

Swedish industry faces enormous investments in the green transition that can create thousands of new jobs in Sweden and which also mean that we have the opportunity to meet our climate goals, and the industry says that we must have broad agreements and cheaper energy as quickly as possible. New nuclear power may very well need to be built in Sweden, but here and now much more wind power is also needed.

Unfortunately, the government and the coalition partner Sweden Democrats are conducting some form of culture war here. Let it go! Cooperate and make sure to focus on cheaper electricity for Sweden!

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Edward Riedl (M)

Madam Speaker! We will probably have many debates here in the chamber about this.

If a government with its coalition partners makes political decisions that make nuclear power unprofitable, it is clear that one can stand in the chamber and say that it was market-based decisions that caused the decommissioning of nuclear power. But even Vattenfall's own CEO notes that if the Social Democrats and the Green Party had not had these legislative proposals, nuclear power would have remained in Sweden.

This chamber made an attempt to save Swedish nuclear power. The Social Democrats, the Green Party, the Centre Party, and the Left Party voted no to this. People even applauded after that decision, when it was noted that by a margin of one vote, one would have to shut down a further couple of nuclear reactors.

That is what one is responsible for, no matter how one tries to twist and turn the words here in the chamber, and this, Madam Speaker, has made Swedish electricity much more expensive than it has ever been since nuclear power was expanded here in the country.

With this said, let us return to the proposal on a gas and electricity bill emergency fund from the Social Democrats. We looked at the proposal because we initially thought it looked interesting. Therefore, we turned it over and over. But I have a question for Mikael Damberg, which I and gladly those listening can get an answer to: In what way does it become better for the companies if they are allowed to borrow money for the electricity bill at a gas and electricity bill emergency fund instead of borrowing from the tax account, that is, withholding VAT payments, employer contributions, and so on? In what way would it become cheaper for the companies?

Since Mikael Damberg has been Finance Minister, I assume he knows that we must take out a risk premium even for an electricity and gas bill emergency. In what way would it have become cheaper or better for the companies? I do not think that one should frighten the Swedish people with something that is not true, and that is exactly what Mikael Damberg is doing right now. There is no risk. The companies that have liquidity problems can now borrow from the tax account instead of from an electricity and gas bill emergency. There is no difference.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mikael Damberg (S)

Madam Speaker! It does not become any truer because the Moderaterna continue to state inaccuracies about nuclear power. I can only state that you are now in the government, which means that you are responsible for the situation we have here and now. It is about companies and households in our country who feel quite cheated by the promises that you gave during the election campaign. The support was supposed to be in place on November 1.

The companies still do not know when they will receive support. Households in northern Sweden see that the support is to arrive at some point during the spring, and it is a huge difference from the messages that were given during the election campaign.

Here and now, you have a responsibility to push the EU for a new pricing model, so that Sweden does not continue to pay unnecessarily high electricity prices because other countries have not transitioned their energy systems in the way that Sweden has succeeded in doing. Furthermore, the expansion must be secured. Now, you are making the expansion of, for example, wind power in Sweden more expensive and more difficult. I believe that is shooting oneself in the foot, because it is precisely now that we need more electricity so that the industry can make the large investments. But it also requires, I believe, a cross-bloc agreement for energy policy. And that would provide long-term stability.

I have nothing against companies borrowing from the tax account. We introduced such a model during the pandemic. But when I speak with companies, their first priority is not always to borrow from the tax account. If one can instead get an installment plan on their electricity bill, it feels safer for many companies. It is a bit uncertain. The day you start falling behind on the payments to the tax account when the money is to be paid back, that is serious. Then it is for real, and it can affect the companies more. I have met many business owners who would rather have an installment plan for the electricity bill than always be forced to borrow from Skatteverket.

But there can be different views of this. I just think it is unnecessary that households and companies are not given the opportunity that the Minister for Enterprise spoke about a week before the election, namely not to let households end up in debt collection but to also ensure that there are payment plans for the electricity bill. It was said a week before the election; that too is an election promise.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Oscar Sjöstedt (SD)

Madam Speaker! I would like to say that I am happy today, on account of the powerful military support package to Ukraine. But happy is a bit the wrong word because we all know the background as to why we need to do this.

It is a matter of murder, rape, looting, torture, war crimes and outright acts of terror committed by the so-called Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian people, not least against the civilians. In the areas that the Ukrainian defense has liberated, we see the traces of these atrocities and what it means to live under Russian supremacy - russkij mir. It is straight-up horrific, vile and inhuman.

Happy no, but perhaps proud nonetheless that we are not sitting inactive but are actually acting - quite powerfully moreover: grenade launchers, armor shots, anti-tank missiles, automatic rifles, mine-clearing equipment and not least combat vehicles. The Swedish-made combat vehicle 90 is the world's best combat vehicle, and 50 of these will help.

The hope is, of course, that the contributions that the Swedish Riksdag now decides on later this afternoon, together with military contributions from other countries in the free and civilized part of the world, will provide Ukraine with an offensive capacity and capability. In the best-case scenario, it is a sufficiently potent capability to drive back the band of robbers that constitutes the Russian war machine, together with the bandits in the fascist-instructed Wagner force, back to their own side of the border. By the border, I mean, of course, the internationally recognized border.

I am proud that we have reached an agreement with the coalition parties in the government regarding this powerful package. It has been announced previously that the Archer artillery system shall also be sent to Ukraine, and the Armed Forces are now preparing for this delivery.

Furthermore, we are following the international discussion in Europe and the rest of the world regarding MBTs, that is to say main battle tanks, not least regarding Leopard 2. The messages that have come from Germany, Poland and other countries to provide Ukraine with Leopard 2 are extremely pleasing. From the Sweden Democrats' side, I want to state once again that we view it positively if Sweden should also join this coalition of the willing and send an appropriate number of our own modified Leopard 2 tanks. We have noted that the government has not ruled this out, which is good, and we want to continue to urge the government to actively work further on the issue - obviously in close dialogue with the Armed Forces.

For this reason, and in order to be able to reacquire the equipment, the appropriations in this amending budget within the state budget's expenditure area 6 will increase by 1.7 billion kronor, while the ordering authorizations within the same expenditure area increase by a total of 5.7 billion kronor for the current year. In summary, it is a very powerful package.

Madam Speaker! In the supplementary budget, it is also proposed that the period for which tax deferrals can be granted to companies, precisely due to the strained economic situation, be both extended and postponed. Deferrals can then be granted for the payment of preliminary tax on wages, employer contributions, and VAT. It is a good measure, and it is reasonably accurate. Nothing is one hundred percent accurate when one deals with politics, but it is reasonably accurate. Above all, the support can be implemented quickly, because large parts of the legislation are already in place. The rest we will decide on this afternoon. This is also a measure that can take place while waiting for other support measures to also be implemented. They do not exclude each other, but they can complement each other.

This is important to do because the companies are in a strained position with, among other things, extreme energy and fuel prices. The purpose is, of course, that fundamentally sound and viable companies should be able to get through the period without being forced into either bankruptcy or liquidation. The outer deadline is now extended, from 12 February to 12 September 2023, and the number of deferral months increases from nine to twelve.

Madam Speaker! Finally, a gas price subsidy is also being announced. The idea behind this is that it should mirror the electricity subsidy in general, but it shall be targeted at those households that use gas as a primary heating source. This applies to many households in Western Sweden and in southern Sweden, not least. We view this positively.

Madam Speaker! I vote in favor of the committee's proposal.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ilona Szatmári Waldau (V)

Madam Speaker! The chairman of the Hyresgästföreningen and the executive director of the Villaägarnas Riksförbund wrote a debate article this week. It stated, among other things: "Our message to the government is crystal clear. It is time for a different pricing model for electricity. And it is urgent. That Swedish households should have to pay sky-high prices for electricity, and completely unnecessarily, is unacceptable. Together, we are now taking a stand for the introduction of Swedish prices on electricity."

Both argue that an overwhelming majority of the Swedish people are in need of a reform that decouples domestic pricing from exports, just as Spain, Portugal and Poland have already done with good results.

It has now been 181 days since Vänsterpartiet proposed Swedish prices on electricity, and in 181 days, different governments have equivocated and blamed the EU as reasons for not even investigating the issue of Swedish prices, even though other EU countries already have different prices for domestic energy and exported energy. Now Sweden is the chair of the EU, and the government has the chance to ensure that the issue of the EU's electricity market is properly investigated.

Instead of lowering electricity prices, the government, all too late, provides support to households and companies so that they can cope with the high electricity prices. While the electricity companies that produce cheap electricity can sell it expensively and make large profits, it is with tax money that households and companies are compensated.

Sweden does not have a shortage of electricity today, but we need to expand renewable energy to meet the challenges of the future.

But as things stand now, Vänsterpartiet stands behind the proposals in the bill to grant a deferral of payment of certain taxes for companies. We also see the need for support for households to cope with the difficult economic situation with high inflation, high electricity prices, and increased interest rates. We stand behind support for households that are dependent on gas but argue that corresponding support should also be given to companies that have high gas costs.

If we had had a government that dared to tackle the issue of Swedish prices for Swedish electricity, Sweden would have been in a much better position, and the Swedish companies and households would have been able to afford to pay their electricity bills.

Even though we support the proposals, we object to the gas price subsidy being funded through reduced appropriations to Sweden's innovation agency Vinnova by 50 million kronor. Now that we are in a recession that could worsen, we need to invest in research and innovations to strengthen Sweden's role as a research, industrial, and innovation nation. That is how we get out of the crisis. Vinnova's work for Sweden to be an innovative force in a sustainable world must be able to continue without cuts.

Madam Speaker! Vänsterpartiet also supports the government's proposal to authorize the government to decide on donating defense materiel to Ukraine that can be spared by the Armed Forces for a limited period. We also support that the Armed Forces need to be provided with funds to be able to reacquire the materiel.

Ukraine must receive the support the country needs to face Russia's violation of international law. In just a few weeks, it will be a year since Russia launched its full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine. We must stand united against Russia and for Ukraine and its population to end the war and for Ukraine's right to independence and to its borders.

Madam Speaker! I vote in favor of the committee's proposal but also refer to the Left Party's special statement.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Hans Eklind (KD)

Madam Speaker! Today we are debating changes to the state budget for the current year. On the table for decision is an additional supplementary budget which, in addition to measures aimed at companies and households as a result of high energy prices, also contains an additional important support to Ukraine.

Saving and providing help to lives is a self-evident matter. That Sweden, both as a country and as the chair of the EU, does what is possible to rescue all those people whose lives have been shattered in Turkey and Syria is an absolute self-evident matter. It therefore feels good that the government immediately clarified that Sweden, via the Red Cross Federation, supports the relief work and that it is ready to make new decisions regarding further relief efforts in the near future.

In the same way, we Christians Democrats have reasoned regarding Ukraine ever since the morning of February 24 last year when Russia attacked and invaded Ukraine. Sweden shall rescue the innocent victims, the Ukrainian people, in this sorrowful and terrible war for which Russia bears full responsibility. Sweden shall therefore assist Ukraine both humanitarily and militarily.

We are doing this now with a comprehensive military package worth 4.3 billion kronor. In addition to grenade launchers with ammunition, armor plates, anti-tank missiles, assault rifles, mine-clearing equipment and combat vehicles, there is also a mission to the Armed Forces to prepare a transfer of the Archer artillery system. This shows that Sweden does not waver from its conviction to undoubtedly support the men and women who, with their lives at stake, defend their territory and their country's existence.

Madam Speaker! There are three parts to this extra supplementary budget. We shall therefore also decide that 27,000 households in southern Sweden shall receive a gas price subsidy for the period October 2021 to September 2022. It is an important measure as it is not only electricity customers who have been affected, and now households also receive important help to manage the skyrocketing gas prices. The subsidy is designed so that it corresponds to the high-cost protection for electricity.

Madam Speaker! The third component of this supplementary budget provides a new opportunity for companies to postpone tax payments. It is an important decision, because otherwise, the companies would have had a deadline in these days, February 12, for the temporary deferral that already existed. Now, companies that have been economically affected by the corona pandemic can postpone the payment of employer contributions, withheld tax, and VAT until September 12. High inflation and changed conditions in the energy market with increased energy prices have caused many companies that are fundamentally healthy and viable to experience liquidity problems.

These three parts of the supplementary budget are important both collectively and individually, and it is a decisive strength that a unanimous Riksdag supports the proposals that the Government is placing on the Riksdag's table for a decision today.

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Carl B Hamilton (L)

Madam Speaker! The bill we are to decide on a little later today deals with energy issues and support for Ukraine.

Let me however begin with something that the previous speaker was touching upon and which I believe has affected us all over the past few days, namely the people who have been affected by the massive, devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. So far, at least 8,000 people have died, and the death toll will surely rise. Many times more have obviously been injured in various ways.

We see heartbreaking images from the disaster area where desperate people are digging and searching for relatives and friends and trying to help at the rubble. Many have likely lost relatives and everything they own and have. To make matters worse, they are also freezing and more or less starving.

It is in this situation very good that Sweden quickly and decisively sends equipment and financial aid to alleviate these people's suffering.

Sweden furthermore has an important task as the chair of the EU to stimulate and coordinate EU actions to respond to the pleas of Turkey and civil society's aid organizations for humanitarian aid and urgent rescue operations.

Let us continue with both national efforts and, as President of the EU, seek to coordinate and mobilize EU efforts to help those affected in Turkey but also, naturally, in Syria. I think it is particularly important that we put the NATO conflict aside and with commitment try to support the recovery and the measures in Turkey.

To Ukraine: We have previously, as we have also heard here, in the Riksdag decided time and again on financial support and military equipment support to Ukraine. In this bill, additional support with military equipment is proposed, which was originally intended for the Swedish defense but which can now be redirected to the defense of Ukraine. At the same time, replacement equipment for the Swedish defense shall be ordered and paid for.

It is good, and it is part of Sweden's ongoing support to Ukraine. It is also a support to ourselves in the security policy situation that the Russian attack on Ukraine has placed Sweden and Europe in. We are reminded again of the ghosts from Europe, Finland, and Sweden during World War II. Even though the situation is different in several ways, the fundamental problem remains, which is our location on the map. We have to live with an undemocratically governed great power at our and our neighbors' borders to the east. That problem is particularly present today and, unfortunately, very much alive.

Now moving on to something completely different, namely the electricity support. Let me conclude with some observations and reflections, slightly aside from what has been said here earlier, regarding the economic situation in Sweden and the rest of the world which has an impact on the effects of the electricity support.

Extra supplementary budget for 2023 - Support for Ukraine and measures aimed at companies and households as a result of high energy prices

First, perhaps I should thank a number of people, both civil servants and people in various electricity companies and firms, for a sacrificial effort, not least during the weekends, to try to ensure that the power system and the consumers' everyday lives will function. It has done so almost without interruption, but it has naturally become considerably more expensive in many cases.

When it comes to the macroeconomic part of our world, we are facing a turning point. I think it is important to mention this before the discussions about what one can expect. Inflation remains high, but robust efforts and interest rate hikes in the central banks in the USA, EU, and even Sweden will reasonably, slowly but surely during 2023, brake an overheated economic demand and cool down inflation and, not least, mitigate the electricity shortage. One should, however, note that unemployment, thank goodness, has increased very moderately during these times of crisis. We can discuss in more detail at another occasion what conclusions should be drawn from that.

The reduced uncertainty regarding the determination in the conducted central bank policy has, to some surprise, caused the stock market and the business press to become optimistic and likely drives away winter and welcomes spring with higher interest rates and, eventually, gradually falling inflation. This reduces the electricity shortage and benefits, among others, electricity customers and those who look long-term at production and investments in the energy sector.

With these reflections, I move for approval of the committee's proposal.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(Decisions were made under § 14.)

Defense policy and total defense

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