Conversion of OVF Approved

The Storting’s decision of 12 June will have major consequences for the Endowment of the Clergy, but relatively minor consequences for municipalities and individuals who have a connection to OVF. It is not yet clear on what date the conversion will take place, but it is clear that OVF will be converted into a new company and that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (NFD) will become the owner of the new company.

The conversion will entail a new organisation number, a new board, new articles of association and a new corporate structure. The Storting decided that the company will be a limited company in which NFD will hold all the shares. The new company will therefore be governed by the Limited Liability Companies Act and will be covered by the government’s guidelines in the ownership report.

However, the new OVF will still be based on the same values, have the same ambitions, manage the same properties and have the same employees as today.

The Storting also decided that all of OVF would be converted—in its entirety—and with that, all attempts to transfer outlying land, forests and undeveloped property to other interested parties were put to rest. In the process leading up to the decision, powerful forces ran media campaigns and attempted to influence members of parliament directly, but these efforts were unsuccessful, and all properties will be transferred to the new company.

Decision in brief: The Storting has decided to convert the Endowment of the Clergy into a limited company, with responsibility for managing the state’s ownership of the company transferred to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. The adopted Conversion Act contains special provisions that are necessary for converting the endowment into a limited company, both out of consideration for the existing regulations in the Act relating to the Endowment of the Clergy and for other practical reasons. The Storting also decided to ask the government to ensure that the limited company’s objectives, articles of association or strategy contribute to the public’s genuine access to hunting and fishing on the company’s properties.

Stortinget.no

A Natural Change

The Ministry of Children and Families is, among other things, responsible for church affairs and has therefore been a natural owner of OVF. The endowment has been closely linked to the Church through its origins and objectives, but times are changing. To reflect the society in which we live, it became necessary to separate the Church and the state. The Storting approved the separation in 2012, and from 2017 the Church of Norway became a separate, independent legal entity. In the meantime, the clergy’s obligation to live in vicarages was abolished, and work began on dividing OVF’s assets between the Church and the state. The separation of Church and state led to a decision by the Storting in 2019 to divide OVF between the state and the Church. This has been demanding work, which is now nearing completion. The Church of Norway will take over around 160 vicarages and approximately NOK 1.3 billion to cover future maintenance costs associated with the properties. Where the vicarages are part of a vicarage estate, the main residential building itself will be separated from the estate so that cultivated land, forests and outlying land remain owned by OVF.

A New Social Mission.

The government has recently decided that the new social mission for OVF going forward will be to contribute to financing the preservation strategy for culturally important churches in Norway. A new Church Preservation Fund will be administered by the Directorate for Cultural Heritage. The fund will receive NOK 500 million annually, and dividends from OVF will contribute to this.