14.3.06

Como de costume...

The pension deal for Anitra Steen, managing director of Sweden's state-owned alcohol monopoly, Systembolaget, breaks government guidelines, according to Metro.

But Steen will get off lightly compared to the head of the state mining company LKAB, Martin Ivert, whose pension the government insists must be renegotiated.

Under Anitra Steen's contract she may retire at the age of 60 and will then be entitled to 70% of her 2001 salary of almost 1.7 million kronor for the rest of her life. On top of that she will receive a premium-based pension and the standard Systembolaget employee pension.

"When the agreement was made there were no guidelines," said Annika Nilsson, the state secretary for Minister for Public Health Morgan Johansson, told the paper. She added that it is "not simple to renegotiate an existing contract".

But only last week the government demanded that Martin Ivert's pension be renegotiated, despite the fact that it too was settled before the new regulations came into force.

(...)

However, when it comes to Anitra Steen - wife of Prime Minister Göran Persson - the government appears to be unwilling to insist that the board of Systembolaget renegotiate her pension agreement.

"We support them if they want to begin renegotiations," said Annika Nilsson.

The government's guidelines were introduced in 2003. Martin Ivert became managing director of LKAB in 2001, while Anitra Steen was made Systembolaget boss in 1999.
Moral da história: ser mulher do primeiro-ministro tem as suas vantagens.