Heavy Industry Profits Uncertain

The Icelandic energy industry needs to be more transparent according to Val Koromzay, at the Economic Department of OECD in Paris. OECD issued a new report on Iceland's economy this week. Koromzay says there is uncertainty whether selling energy to heavy industry will be profitable to the Icelandic economy, and that there is great need for a serious debate on the considerable flaws of the energy industry's framework. He says it is quite clear that the only way to export energy is to heavy industry, however nobody has any idea what that will bring back to the economy because of serious lack of transparency.

Koromazay says the energy industry needs to be opened up to increase competition and transparency. At the same time heavy industry needs to be valued on a broad range in terms of costs and profits, while considering such issues as usage of natural resources, environmental effects and economic consequences. „Today the price paid for energy in Iceland is treated as classified information and therefore we do not know if the price is acceptable," says Koromazay. The OECD report also claims that new heavy industry plans should be delayed until the economy has been balanced, as reported by Fréttablaðið.