Oslo - High salaries and bonuses to top executives in state- owned companies has sparked a heated debate in Norway where Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen and other cabinet members have called for moderation.
One of the targets of the debate was Jon Fredrik Baksaas, chief executive of the state-owned telecoms group Telenor who is slated to earn 22 million kroner (3.4 million dollars) in salary and stock options this year.
Telenor recently presented a strong third-quarter report as did state-owned energy giant Statoil.
Halvorsen of the Socialist Left Party questioned Thursday why executives earned four, five times as much as the prime minister who takes home roughly 1 million kroner (155,000 dollars).
"I meet too many in Norwegian business that only compare themselves with international and American companies but in Norway one should compare oneself with the prime minister," Halvorsen said in remarks to Oslo daily Dagbladet.
Baksaas however said he had no plans to abstain from his earnings.
"A deal is a deal," he told the tabloid Verdens Gang.
The options progamme was worth 16.5 million kroner (2.5 million dollars), but Baksaas said he had earned it as a result of Telenor good results and the bonus was lower if seen over time.
Baksaas said it was also unfair to compare his salary with that of the prime minister's or other cabinet members.
"The prime minister's job is more complex and has a broader responsibility than I have, but there is an important difference and that is he is elected," Baksaas said.
Statoil added fuel to the debate when board chairman Jannik Lindbaek announced recently that the Stavanger-based group had revised its bonus programmes.
The corporate bonus which applies to all employees would be increased from 5 per cent of the basic salary to 7.5 per cent next year, Statoil said.
The bonus for senior executives and key personnel would increase from 20 per cent to between 15 and 40 per cent while the chief executive's bonus would increase from 30 per cent to 50 per cent.
Statoil chief executive Helge Lund would under the new system earn 33 million kroner (5.1 million dollars) in the coming three-year period, according to estimates by the daily Aftenposten.
Petroleum and Energy Minister Odd Roger Enoksen told public broadcaster NRK "it is a high salary. But it is the board's responsibility and it is the board that is in charge of setting a salary level needed to get competent leaders."
Statoil board chairman Lindbaek said that the company, which has some 25,000 employees, was experiencing "greater competition over senior executives and key personnel at various levels. We meet this in Norway and in all the international markets where we compete."
Next month the red-green coalition government was slated to present a bill including tighter rules for bonuses to executives in state-owned companies.