Unveiling of IKEA founder’s will brings good news to Arctic Sweden
Half of Ingvar Kamprad’s fortune will go to business development projects in northern Sweden. The news were greeted with enthusiasm in Haparanda, home to Sweden’s northernmost IKEA department store.
The will, handwritten in 2014 by the furniture magnate himself, was made public this week, newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported.
“We are pleased and honoured by the fact that Ingvar actually mentioned our region in his last will,” Peter Waara, mayor of Haparanda, told Radio Sweden, adding that he believes Kamprad saw many similarities between the remote northern Sweden and his native Småland, in the south of the country.
The will stipulates that Kamprad’s four children will share half his inheritance, while the other half will go to business development in Norrland, a geographical area that spans the northern half of Sweden, where only between 10 and 15 per cent of the Swedish population lives.
Kamprad passed away on January 27th this year after contracting pneumonia. The Kamprad Family Foundation will administer the money to be invested in business development projects in the north.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Biggest danger to Arctic business is protectionism says Arctic Economic Council chair, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: Finland’s exports up by 15% in 2017, Yle News
Norway: Can Barents region become a superhub on China’s Arctic Silk Road?, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Sweden to spend millions to boost media in rural areas, Radio Sweden
United States: Northwest Passage cruise marks turning point in Arctic tourism, Alaska Public Radio Network
