Luke Roberts
October 28th, 2020

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Yesterday, Folketinget passed a hotly-debated law banning the mistreatment of religious texts. Photo: Richard Mortel

Late last night, politicians from across the board agreed to extend and expand government support to the business and culture sector.

It amounts to a total of over 8 billion kroner, and the deal will run until 31 January 2021.

Subcontractors get a slice of the pie
The remit of the package has been extended to now cover a greater number of struggling companies, including taxi firms and cinemas.

Furthermore, the maximum compensation for smaller companies has been raised to 90 percent of fixed costs, whilst the eligibility criteria has also been lowered.

Long-term perspective
“The schemes we have agreed on tonight are schemes that apply until 31 January – provided there are still restrictions,” explained Simon Kollerup, the minister of trade and industry.

“In this way, we support a more long-term perspective, and that way Danish companies know what they can rely on.”

Ørsted’s green turn brings profits
Danish energy group Ørsted’s strategic decision to look exclusively to renewable energy by divesting large parts of its business and focusing exclusively on wind and solar energy assets, has proved fruitful. Its latest quarterly accounts show a 12 billion kroner profit – more than eight times the profit reported this time last year.

Customer’s to pay the price of negative interest
Sydbank this week stated that it would be lowering the point at which private customers pay negative interest on deposits. The threshold falls from 250,000 kroner to 100,000, and the change will come into force on January 1. It represents one of the lowest ceilings among Danish banks.  Currently banks themselves are paying to have money sitting in Danmarks Nationalbank, so they are accordingly looking to the customers to cover these negative interest rates.

Grundfos keep it in the family
With former CEO Mads Nipper opting to move to Ørsted at the start of the year, Grundfos’s board have looked to appoint a new CEO to take his place. They did not have to look very far, it seems, with Poul Due Jensen – a grandson and namesake of Grundfos’s founder – who has been appointed to the post with immediate effect.

Denmark calls on development banks to choose green
Climate-friendly solutions were the subject of Rasmus Prehn’s pitch yesterday when the minister for development aid hosted a meeting on climate and development as part of the World Bank’s annual program. The coronavirus crisis offers an opportunity for radical reconstruction, and Denmark believes that development banks can play a major role in providing support and funding for ambitious climate action plans.