Eivind Reiten
Encyclopedia
Eivind Kristofer Reiten is a Norwegian
economist, corporate officer and politician
for the Centre Party
. He was a Minister of Fisheries and Minister of Petroleum and Energy
during the 1980s, before entering a career in business. Reiten served as the Director General (CEO) of Norsk Hydro
between 2001 and 2009, after which he took up the chairmanship of Norske Skog
. Eivind Reiten was also Chairman of StatoilHydro
for four days, until he resigned from his position after Norsk Hydro
had been accused of corruption.
as the son of Kristofer Reiten, a farmer and fisher, and housewife Kjellaug Opstad. He enrolled as a student in 1972, and graduated from the University of Oslo
in 1978 with a degree
in economics. He worked as a civil servant from 1979 to 1982, and as a secretary for the Centre Party from 1982 to 1983. He was then brought into the government as state secretary
to the Minister of Finance
from 1983 to 1985. He then became Minister of Fisheries from 1985 to 1986 as part of the Second cabinet Willoch
, and Minister of Petroleum and Energy
from 1989 to 1990 as part of Cabinet Syse
. In his last political position, he was responsible for the deregulation of the electricity market in Norway. Having chaired the Centre Youth
, the youth wing of the Centre Party, from 1979 to 1981, he served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from 1985 to 1989.
in 1988, heading the energy division from that year, and becoming senior vice president of special projects in 1991. From 1992 he led the refining and marketing division, and from 1998 the aluminum division. He was appointed executive vice president for light metals in 1999. He succeeded Egil Myklebust
as chief executive officer in 2001. He was a member of the board of the Bank of Norway from 1991 to 1994 and Norske Skogindustrier
from 1997 to 2000, and has chaired
the board of Norway Post (1996–1999) and Telenor
(2000–2001). He has attended the Bilderberg meetings.
and the oil and gas division of Norsk Hydro, Reiten was appointed chair
of the merged StatoilHydro
that merged on 1 October 2007. Four days later Reiten withdrew from the seat. The reason was that it was uncertain whether or not he knew about a corruption case Hydro had been accused of, where a Libya
n consulting company and the consultant Abdurrazag Gammudi had been paid , used to make bribes, after the Hydro take-over of Saga Petroleum
in 1999. Stated Reiten, it was in no-one's interest that he retain a conflict of interest by retaining the seat of chair in the company that would investigate himself. The case had arisen on 26 September, after a Hydro employee had leaked information about the matter; it had not been identified as part of the due diligence
performed by Statoil prior to the merger. He was replaced by his deputy, Marit Arnstad
, who is also a former Minister of Petroleum and Energy from the Centre Party. The investigation from StatoilHydro concluded that Reiten was informed about this during 2000 and 2001, while the investigation in Norsk Hydro concluded that Reiten did not know about the corruption. Since the Norsk Hydro investigation—that included checking 1.5 million documents—could not show that Reiten knew about the corruption, Hydro Chairman Terje Vareberg confirmed that Reiten would not be removed from his position. However, two executives of StatoilHydro were required to leave immediately.
at the company's annual general meeting
in April 2009.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
economist, corporate officer and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
for the Centre Party
Centre Party (Norway)
The Centre Party is a centrist and agrarian political party in Norway, founded in 1920. The Centre Party's policy is not based on any of the major ideologies of the 19th and 20th century, but has a focus on maintaining decentralised economic development and political decision-making.From its...
. He was a Minister of Fisheries and Minister of Petroleum and Energy
Minister of Petroleum and Energy (Norway)
The Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy is the head of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.- Councillor of State and Chief of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy 1978 – 1992 :...
during the 1980s, before entering a career in business. Reiten served as the Director General (CEO) of Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. Hydro is the fourth largest integrated aluminium company worldwide. It has operations in some 40 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state holds a 43.8 percent...
between 2001 and 2009, after which he took up the chairmanship of Norske Skog
Norske Skog
Norske Skogindustrier ASA or Norske Skog, which translates as Norwegian Forest Industries, is a Norwegian pulp and paper company based in Oslo, Norway and established in 1962...
. Eivind Reiten was also Chairman of StatoilHydro
StatoilHydro
Statoil ASA, trading as Statoil and formerly known as StatoilHydro, is a Norwegian energy company, formed by the 2007 merger of Statoil with the oil and gas division of Norsk Hydro. The Government of Norway is the largest shareholder in Statoil with 67% of the shares...
for four days, until he resigned from his position after Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. Hydro is the fourth largest integrated aluminium company worldwide. It has operations in some 40 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state holds a 43.8 percent...
had been accused of corruption.
Political career
Reiten was born in MidsundMidsund
Midsund is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre is the village of Midsund on Otrøya island. The municipality consists of the islands of Otrøya, Midøya, Dryna, and the smaller Midsund is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal...
as the son of Kristofer Reiten, a farmer and fisher, and housewife Kjellaug Opstad. He enrolled as a student in 1972, and graduated from the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
in 1978 with a degree
Cand.oecon.
Candidatus oeconomices or Candidata oeconomices , often abbreviated cand.oecon. is an academic degree in economics at Danish and Norwegian universities. It is roughly equivalent to a Master of Economics, but it consists of 4+2 years, and was based on a four year cand.mag.. The degree was replaced...
in economics. He worked as a civil servant from 1979 to 1982, and as a secretary for the Centre Party from 1982 to 1983. He was then brought into the government as state secretary
State Secretary (Norway)
In Norway, a State Secretary is a partisan political position within the executive branch of government. Contrary to the position Secretary of State in many other countries, the Norwegian State Secretary does not head his or her Ministry, rather, they are second in rank to a Minister...
to the Minister of Finance
Minister of Finance (Norway)
- 1st Ministry :- 5th Ministry :- Ministry of Finance, Trade and Customs :- Ministry of Finance and Customs :- Ministry of Finance :...
from 1983 to 1985. He then became Minister of Fisheries from 1985 to 1986 as part of the Second cabinet Willoch
Second cabinet Willoch
Willoch's Second Cabinet was a majority, Conservative/Centre/Christian Democrat Government of Norway. It succeeded the Conservative First cabinet Willoch in mid-term to secure a majority, right-winged government, and sat from 8 June 1983 to 8 May 1986...
, and Minister of Petroleum and Energy
Minister of Petroleum and Energy (Norway)
The Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy is the head of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.- Councillor of State and Chief of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy 1978 – 1992 :...
from 1989 to 1990 as part of Cabinet Syse
Cabinet Syse
Syse's Cabinet was a minority, Conservative/Centre/Christian Democrat Government of Norway. It succeeded the Labour Second cabinet Brundtland after the 1989 election, and sat between 16 October 1989 and 3 November 1990...
. In his last political position, he was responsible for the deregulation of the electricity market in Norway. Having chaired the Centre Youth
Centre Youth
The Centre Youth is the youth organization of the Norwegian Centre Party. Hence, they advocate decentralization and stress their opposition of the European Union. Their current leader is Sandra Borch.-External links:*...
, the youth wing of the Centre Party, from 1979 to 1981, he served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from 1985 to 1989.
Business career
Reiten started working for Norsk HydroNorsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. Hydro is the fourth largest integrated aluminium company worldwide. It has operations in some 40 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state holds a 43.8 percent...
in 1988, heading the energy division from that year, and becoming senior vice president of special projects in 1991. From 1992 he led the refining and marketing division, and from 1998 the aluminum division. He was appointed executive vice president for light metals in 1999. He succeeded Egil Myklebust
Egil Myklebust
Egil Myklebust is a Norwegian businessperson and lawyer. Since 2001 he has been chairman of the board of SAS Group.Born in Kvinnherad, Myklebust took a law degree from the University of Oslo in 1967, before starting work with the Norwegian Welfare Services . After that he worked at Norsk Hydro...
as chief executive officer in 2001. He was a member of the board of the Bank of Norway from 1991 to 1994 and Norske Skogindustrier
Norske Skog
Norske Skogindustrier ASA or Norske Skog, which translates as Norwegian Forest Industries, is a Norwegian pulp and paper company based in Oslo, Norway and established in 1962...
from 1997 to 2000, and has chaired
Chair (official)
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...
the board of Norway Post (1996–1999) and Telenor
Telenor
Telenor Group is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. Today, Telenor Group is mostly an international wireless carrier with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, working predominantly under the Telenor brand...
(2000–2001). He has attended the Bilderberg meetings.
Libya corruption case
As part of the merger between StatoilStatoil
Statoil ASA is a Norwegian petroleum company established in 1972. It merged with Norsk Hydro in 2007 and was known as StatoilHydro until 2009, when the name was changed back to Statoil ASA. The brand Statoil was retained as a chain of fuel stations owned by StatoilHydro...
and the oil and gas division of Norsk Hydro, Reiten was appointed chair
Chair (official)
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...
of the merged StatoilHydro
StatoilHydro
Statoil ASA, trading as Statoil and formerly known as StatoilHydro, is a Norwegian energy company, formed by the 2007 merger of Statoil with the oil and gas division of Norsk Hydro. The Government of Norway is the largest shareholder in Statoil with 67% of the shares...
that merged on 1 October 2007. Four days later Reiten withdrew from the seat. The reason was that it was uncertain whether or not he knew about a corruption case Hydro had been accused of, where a Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n consulting company and the consultant Abdurrazag Gammudi had been paid , used to make bribes, after the Hydro take-over of Saga Petroleum
Saga Petroleum
Saga Petroleum was a Norwegian upstream petroleum company established in 1972 that was acquired by Norsk Hydro in 1999. Since October 2007 it is a part of Statoil. The company was the only fully private oil company in Norway. It had partial ownership in 60 oil field licenses and was operator of 18...
in 1999. Stated Reiten, it was in no-one's interest that he retain a conflict of interest by retaining the seat of chair in the company that would investigate himself. The case had arisen on 26 September, after a Hydro employee had leaked information about the matter; it had not been identified as part of the due diligence
Due diligence
"Due diligence" is a term used for a number of concepts involving either an investigation of a business or person prior to signing a contract, or an act with a certain standard of care. It can be a legal obligation, but the term will more commonly apply to voluntary investigations...
performed by Statoil prior to the merger. He was replaced by his deputy, Marit Arnstad
Marit Arnstad
Marit Arnstad is a Norwegian lawyer and politician.Arnstad was born in Stjørdal. She held various jobs and offices before entering politics on a national level in 1993. That year, she was elected to the Storting and sat as a representative for the Centre Party from 1993 to 1997...
, who is also a former Minister of Petroleum and Energy from the Centre Party. The investigation from StatoilHydro concluded that Reiten was informed about this during 2000 and 2001, while the investigation in Norsk Hydro concluded that Reiten did not know about the corruption. Since the Norsk Hydro investigation—that included checking 1.5 million documents—could not show that Reiten knew about the corruption, Hydro Chairman Terje Vareberg confirmed that Reiten would not be removed from his position. However, two executives of StatoilHydro were required to leave immediately.
Leaving Norsk Hydro
In January 2009 Reiten announced that he was stepping down as Chief Executive of Norsk Hydro from 30 March 2009, with executive vice president Svein Richard Brandtzæg taking over. Reiten has since been nominated to replace Kim Wahl as Chairman of Norske SkogNorske Skog
Norske Skogindustrier ASA or Norske Skog, which translates as Norwegian Forest Industries, is a Norwegian pulp and paper company based in Oslo, Norway and established in 1962...
at the company's annual general meeting
Annual general meeting
An annual general meeting is a meeting that official bodies, and associations involving the public , are often required by law to hold...
in April 2009.