Response to interpellation 2024/25:403 on the sale of state-owned companies
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M claims that no more state-owned companies should be sold during the current mandate period 1 2 3. M argues that sales occur in a responsible manner and that a mandate from the Riksdag is required 2. M emphasizes that it is not self-evident that the state should own all current companies 2 3. S questions the credibility of M's statements since companies were sold shortly after the Finance Minister said that no more would be sold 4 5 6. S argues that state ownership is important to ensure public services throughout the country 6. S believes that the Finance Minister has attempted to mislead voters and the opposition regarding sales plans 5 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Mr. Speaker! Linus Sköld has asked me how many more companies I assess will be sold during the current parliamentary term.
As I said at the press conference regarding the new ownership policy for state-owned companies on February 19, 2025, it is not relevant to sell any more companies during this parliamentary term.
Linus Sköld (S)
Mr. Speaker! When one knows that one is going to receive such a short answer, it is fortunate that one has not submitted the question as a written question, but can instead ask follow-up questions.
This is how it looks: The Moderates have long wanted to sell off state-owned companies. The newspaper Publikt has a list from 2003 of 20 companies that the Moderates wanted to sell then. The Moderates have many times gone to elections on the promise to sell off state-owned companies. Even during the previous years of government 2006–2014, the Moderates sold a number of companies. But one does not need to go back so far in time, instead, one can go to the previous parliamentary term when Elisabeth Svantesson, as State Secretary, was the industrial policy spokesperson for the Moderates and tabled a motion that a number of companies need to be sold.
During the election campaign, the Tidö parties campaigned on the basis that some different constellations of companies would be sold, but all the Tidö parties wanted to sell more state-owned companies. State Secretary Lars Hjälmered said when the government took office, in direct contrast to what the parties had said during the election campaign, that there are currently no proposals regarding sales.
Then two years passed, and after that came the news that the state is selling Bilprovningen. Then came the news in Dagens ETC that the Finance Minister, at a meeting with the Moderate Youth League, has said that more will come. After that, the Finance Minister participated in an interpellation debate and gave the impression that no more companies would be sold. She corrected my positions and mirrored the own policy conducted during the previous mandate period in order to downplay that more companies would be sold.
So three days passed. Then came the news that the state is selling the next company.
Now we stand here, and the Minister for Finance has delivered the very short answer, which means that no more companies shall be sold during the mandate period. Why should anyone who has followed the issue trust the Minister for Finance's word?
Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Mr. Speaker! I hope the member does not mean that I lied in the previous interpellation debate. I did not do that. On the other hand, one cannot always report on sales when they occur because there is confidentiality.
Let it be clear that if one brings out a list from 2003, one has poor arguments. I do not intend to spend that much time on this debate.
That the Moderates want to lower taxes and sell some companies is no great secret. But it will always occur in a responsible manner, at the right time, and it shall be tested in every individual instance. Two companies have been sold during this parliamentary term, and I actually believe that it is fewer than what the Social Democrats sold during the years before us. Two companies have been sold, and no more will be sold during the parliamentary term.
Firstly, there must be a mandate from the Riksdag, i.e., a majority. Secondly, we are not working with any sales now during this mandate period. In the next mandate period, it is possible that some or some companies will be sold, if I am allowed to continue to have responsibility for this portfolio. It is not self-evident that all companies that the state owns today should be operated by the state specifically.
I have answered the question: We are not going to sell any more companies during this mandate period.
Linus Sköld (S)
Mr. Speaker! I briefly repeat that the responsible State Secretary said when the government took office that there were no proposals regarding sales. Then Bilprovningen was sold. I stand here with the minutes from the interpellation debate and can quote what the Minister for Finance said, so those listening can judge whether she tried to give the impression that more companies would be sold or not.
"That I should have said that the government intends to sell more state-owned companies is incorrect," the Minister for Finance corrected my question. She also said the following: "For me, it is not self-evident that all companies should be owned by the state, but many are, and so they will continue to be. That is quite self-evident."
If this is not intended to downplay the risk that more companies will be sold during the mandate period, I do not understand why the Finance Minister said that at all.
Three days after the statements, the news came that Lernia was to be sold. Believe me when I say that I find it difficult to trust the Finance Minister's claim in this debate if one so shortly and casually changes opinion and claims that no more companies shall be sold. If it is so obvious that the Moderaterna want to lower taxes and sell off state-owned companies, the Finance Minister should have said that in the previous debate and not tried to give the impression that no more companies shall be sold.
I think the question remains, and the Minister for Finance can well say at least once more that she does not intend to sell any more companies during this parliamentary term.
Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Mr. Speaker! I just want to briefly conclude by saying that we are, in fact, talking about a MUF meeting where I was asked if I wanted to sell more companies. I am moderate, and I do, in fact, want to sell more companies. We talked about whether the government would sell more there at that time and what was in the works.
There were no lies in that debate; I stuck to what was actually happening. I really hope that Member Sköld understands that I cannot stand and talk about a sale in the chamber.
With that said, we will not sell any more companies during this mandate period. There is no mandate or any list during this mandate period. Are we preparing a sale ahead of the next mandate period? Yes, we are considering it. Should the state own all the companies that we own today? Are we best at managing them all? I am not sure about that, but we will have to return to that in the next mandate period. I hope that I can continue my job.
Linus Sköld (S)
Mr. Speaker! In this debate, we have not talked so much about what the point is with the state owning companies, because this is to a very large extent about trying to hold the Minister for Finance accountable for the things she actually does and says.
There are points to the state owning companies. One such point could be to ensure that public services function throughout the country. There, for example, Bilprovningen could have been given a public mandate and played an active role instead of the state selling the company for a measly billion.
It is obvious that the Finance Minister and I make different assessments when it comes to these types of things, and that is also why I think it is so important to bring up the issue time and again. We don't really need to delve into the statement at the MUF meeting, but it was, therefore, my interpretation of that statement, that is to say that it was not true that the government intended to sell more state-owned companies, which the Finance Minister corrected – three days before she actually sold the next state-owned company.
I could rewrite the Finance Minister's script for her. She could say it like this: We Moderates always want to sell more companies. Today, I simply cannot say which ones they will be.
Then it would not have had a market impact, and then it would have been possible to talk about it in an honest way here in the speaker's chair. Then the Finance Minister would have been able to skip sitting here today, held fast by his attempts to mislead both the opposition and the voters.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.