[ad_1]
Discussion. The ownership of Telia is problematic and the time has come to sell the remaining funds, writes Martin Nilsen, the president of the Federal District of Young Liberals
. For the past few weeks, Telia has been negotiating to acquire part of the Bonnier Group's activities and other moving media.
The effect of the agreement is that the totally independent television channels of today, like TV4 and the online service C More, become part of a public company. This worries the impartiality of these media and constitutes a major loss for the Swedish people.
The situation shows that state involvement in Telia is problematic and that the time is left for sale by other state assets in the company. For almost 18 years, Telia's share has been a popular possession among small Swedish savers, the concept of popularity has rarely been synonymous with a company like Telia. Although the state has chosen to sell a large part of its stake in the company in 2000, then to rate Telia on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, the state remains the largest owner with a participation of About 37%.
This means that Telia is still a Swedish public company where the government and the parliament have a great influence. The fact that there are a lot of problems with the fact that the state operates multinational companies, as Telia is today, has been visible in recent years. Few have forgotten the very dubious investments in a number of former Soviet states mounted by bribes and a very unethical betrayal.
These transactions have not yet been finalized, but what has already been established is that huge fines have been imposed and most of these businesses have now been divested. Now, Telia is in front of a new store with the Bonnier Group. The agreement itself is considerably less controversial than the activities of the former Soviet Union, but the agreement is no less problematic.
In this case, it's not about the legality of a possible company, but the problem that Telia is still a public company. What is problematic is that the media, like TV4, which are now completely independent of the state, now risk having the state as the main owner. In this case, it is obvious that the impartiality of the media can be questioned. Unlike state-owned media companies as part of the public service, including SVT and SR, the two media companies Telia and Bonnier Group are profitable. This means that the state as owner ends up in a completely different seat as this one acts as the main one in the public service.
There is no problem that the Telia or Bonnier group is profitable, the problem lies in the ownership of the state. The conclusion on the basis of the problem that may now be obvious is not that the company will not be implemented, but it is up to the companies to make these decisions on a commercial basis.
The conclusion should however be that the state can not remain the owner of Telia. Regardless of party political affiliation, one should see the problem that the state is still the owner of Telia. Now is the time to continue the process started nearly 18 years ago by the state that sells its remaining assets in Telia. This must be done so that Telia and the reputation of the state remain.
Marcus Nilsen, District President of the Liberal Youth League of the West
[ad_2]
Source link
