Port ban on Russian vessels takes effect 

Over the weekend, the ban on Russian ships in Norwegian ports came into effect. Vessels from Russia will no longer be able to stop at Norwegian ports as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. 

The ban applies to ships over 500 gross tons that sail commercially, yachts, recreational ships and other boats. 

Russian ships that have been re-registered under another country’s flag after February 24th, the day Russia invaded, will also be included in the ban. The Norwegian government has said. 

Fishing vessels are exempt, and the ban only applies to mainland Norway and not Svalbard. 

READ MORE: Norway to close ports to Russian ships

PM to visit Kirkenes 

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre will visit Kirkenes in northern Norway, close to the border with Russia. 

The PM will visit several businesses and discuss the effects of sanctions against Russia on the border town. 

Later in the day, he will meet with the Barents Secretariat and representatives of the Russian community in Kirkenes.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about Norway’s border with Russia

Low passenger ferry routes to become free

All ferry routes with less than 100,000 passengers annually will become free from July 1st, Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum announced on Sunday. 

The minister said that the ferry routes becoming free would hopefully attract more people to rural areas. 

“For many of the small island and coastal communities, this will be a big boost,” Vedum told public broadcaster NRK. 

“This will help the small business with high transport costs, mother or father who is a commuter or the tourist going there for the summer. It creates more activity,” he added. 

The new rules could mean as many as 39 routes could become free of charge, according to NRK. The government has also said it was working towards its goal of making national ferry routes 50 percent cheaper by 2025. 

Oslo calls on the state for ‘missed’ Covid money

Oslo may have missed more than one billion kroner of state Covid aid, newspaper Aftenposten reports.  

The City Council has said that the city has 250 million kroner in uncovered costs from 2020 and 850 million from 2021. 

During the pandemic, the government made a commitment to ensuring that it would cover the bill for extra expenses incurred throughout the pandemic. 

City Councillor for Finance, Einar Wilhelmsen, has written to the government requesting the money. 

“It is not about whether Oslo has received more or less than others. It is about us not being able to cover the costs that no one disagrees that we have had,” Wilhelmsen told Aftenposten.