Hagen Family’s Canica AS Donates Two Million Kroner to Høyre’s Election Campaign

While the LO confederation Fagforbundet recently gave more than nine million kroner to the governing parties, money also trickles into the Høyre’s election campaign coffers.

Now one of Høyre’s most loyal donors is digging deep to ensure civic victory in the country’s municipalities this autumn: the Hagen family’s company Canica As is giving two million kroner to Høyre this year.

– It has been normal case management, writes Stein Erik Hagen in an SMS to DN.

Høyre is likely to make several very good choices in a number of the country’s largest municipalities. That pleases Hagen.

– I hope and believe that they will make a good choice in many cities and municipalities. In Oslo, I think it would make sense with a change, he writes.

Earlier this year, DN could tell that the company of one of Norway’s richest people, investor Christen Sveaas, is giving the Conservative Party NOK 2.5 million for the election campaign.

– I live in the hope that the bourgeois parties will make a good choice, Sveaas said at the time.

Two of the country’s richest people have nevertheless given less together than a single LO confederation has given the Labor Party. So far this year, the Conservative Party has received just over nine million kroner from private donors.

– We are happy for all large and small contributions to our election campaign. Unlike Ap, SV and Sp, we do not receive large sums from LO. Support from private individuals and companies is therefore crucial for us to be able to conduct an even election campaign, writes Høyre’s secretary general Tom Erlend Skaug in an SMS to DN.

Swiss-owned company

Canica as is controlled by food billionaire Stein Erik Hagen and his family. The company has had connections to Switzerland for many years. The main owner of Canica as is Canica Holding ag, et Swiss-registered company with offices in the village of Pfäffikon.

The Swiss company owns 97.5 percent of the shares in the company and is managed by Stein Erik Hagen’s daughter, the billionaire Caroline Hagen. She took over both control and ownership in 2015. Caroline Hagen moved to Switzerland for tax reasons in 2009.

In a VG interview in 2015, Stein Erik Hagen was able to tell that he withdrew completely after giving both the central positions and the majority of the shares in the family company Canica to his daughter. In the same interview, Hagen said that it was no longer him, but his daughters, who should decide whether Canica should still finance Norwegian parties. The confirmed he told VG that they would continue to do so.

Since then, Canica has given a total of NOK 21.5 million to the Conservative Party, the Progressive Party, the Liberal Party and the Christian People’s Party, and the lion’s share of this, NOK 12.5 million, to the Conservative Party. This year’s contribution comes at the top.

More Switzerland support

Earlier this year, DN was also able to tell that Swiss billionaire Tord Ueland Kolstad is giving NOK 200,000 to Høyre’s election campaign.

– Why would you want to spend money on a Norwegian municipal election campaign when you live in another country?

– Odd Emil is a good and old relation of mine, has had a tradition of supporting those who ask for support – upon request, Kolstad answered on the phone from Bodø at the time.

Kolstad aimed at mayoral candidate in Bodø Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen. The former fisheries minister is one of the Conservative Party’s strongest cards in the region and has according to VG collected NOK 1.3 million for the party’s election campaign this year.