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TILLVÄXTVERKET

State research board spent millions on parties

The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (Stiftelsen för strategisk forskning - SSF) has spent several million kronor reserved for research on parties, with one million kronor going towards the foundation’s 15th birthday celebration.

Published: 14 August 2012 08:55 CEST

“We made a mistake,” Ulla-Britt Fräjdin-Hellqvist, Chairman of the SSF said to the TT news agency.

The revelations come just weeks after the news that the Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket) had spent millions on expensive internal entertainment, causing its director general, Christina Lugnet, to be relived of her duties.

The foundation gave 9.3 million kronor to party organizer Michael Bindefeld over the course of three years, but it remains unclear exactly what the money has gone towards, the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN) revealed on Tuesday.

The foundation’s 15th year celebration was celebrated in Stockholm’s City Hall, with the Nobel Banquet as a model, and boasted over 500 invited guests including politicians, journalists, directors and governors.

The contract with Bindefeld has been put in question, and foundation head Lard Rask explained that he regretted that he never warned the board of the need to put the contract out to tender.

“We live in a grey area between private and public. But if you look at the existing laws it’s crystal clear, I think it’s crystal clear in any case, that one should put it out to tender,” Rask told the paper.

The payment, which according to DN was only mentioned “in passing” during 2009’s annual report, was labelled as “MBAB information project”.

Fräjdin-Hellqvist admits that the foundation has failed.

“We were wrong not to have put the contract out to tender. We will now go through all the facts that DN published and see what failed and after that we will decide on action. It will go at lightning speed, we started as early as yesterday,” she told the TT news agency.

TT/The Local/og

twitter.com/thelocalsweden

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ANNIE LÖÖF

Säpo spent millions on ‘James Bond’ party

Swedish security service Säpo has come under fire after revelations that a James Bond themed party in 2011 cost 5.3 million kronor ($802,500), a contract that was never put out to tender.

Published: 27 August 2012 10:45 CEST
Säpo spent millions on 'James Bond' party

The party, which took place in June 2011, had a guest list of around 1,000 people and cost over 5 million kronor. The contract for the event was never put out to tender, revealed the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN) on Monday.

Furthermore, Säpo erroneously asked for almost one million kronor back in value added tax (moms), a claim that the Swedish National Audit Office (Riksrevisionen) noticed in February, demanding that the security service repaid 114,500 kronor in compensation.

The head of Säpo since July this year, Anders Thornberg, explained to the paper that the James Bond party was an exception – a relief for staff members after the pressure from 2011’s terror threats, suicide bombing and a company reorganization.

“This was a unique and extraordinary time and we’d been subjected to extreme pressure. We thought that we needed a special gathering for the whole security police team,” he told the paper.

The party was organized by former Säpo head Anders Danielsson, who is now the Director General of the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket).

“I take responsibility for everything, if it’s wrong then it is wrong, and it will be sorted out in due course,” he told DN.

Justice Minister Beatrice Ask has not yet commented on the revelations , but said that a spokesperson will make a statement later on Monday morning.

TT/The Local/og

twitter.com/thelocalsweden

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