A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday

Sweden makes multibillion loss on deferred Covid taxes

During the Covid pandemic, more than 63,000 companies were given permission from the Swedish Tax Agency to defer their taxes – an attempt to keep those businesses hit hard by pandemic regulations and decrease in activities afloat.

Those taxes are now due to be paid. But the added problems of the economic downturn with higher interest rates, rising rents and rampaging cost of living mean that a lot of companies are still unable to.

In total, the state is owed more than 23 billion kronor. So far, as many as 9,400 of those companies that were granted deferrals have gone bankrupt, reports public broadcaster SVT.

That leaves the state with a loss of almost 10 billion kronor, which the Tax Agency believes will grow by 8-16 billion kronor in the next there years.

Swedish vocabulary: a billion – en miljard

Could a Swedish cardinal become the next pope?

Sweden’s first and only Catholic cardinal, Anders Arborelius, is one of the names being floated as a possible candidate to take over after Pope Francis, who passed away early on Easter Monday.

Sweden is a predominantly Lutheran (but mostly secular) country, but the Catholic Church has grown in recent years – not least thanks to new immigrants from Catholic countries.

Arborelius, 75, is like Pope Francis supportive of migrants, but has expressed scepticism of the church blessing same-sex marriage. He is seen as soft-spoken and conflict-adverse.

He is however only one of many potential cardinals who could become the next pope, and he himself has refused to comment on his own chances. He has said he believes the next pope will be from the African or Asian continent.

Swedish vocabulary: a pope – en påve

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Sweden at risk of water shortage after dry winter

Southern Sweden’s groundwater levels are lower than normal, reports public radio station P4 Malmöhus. Unusually little precipitation during the winter has led to water reservoirs not filling up as they normally do, from Skåne in the south to southern Dalarna and Gästrikland.

In Skåne, precipitation during the first three months of the year has been at its lowest point in three years.

The island of Gotland rolled out a hosepipe ban as early as April 15th due to the low groundwater levels. 

There’s a risk of a water shortage, warned Eva Hellstrand, groundwater expert at the Geological Survey of Sweden.

“The largest refill happens in autumn and winter. If we’re out of luck we won’t get a proper refill until October, November, and then we have to live on the groundwater we’ve got – and it’s simply not enough,” she told P4 Malmöhus.

Swedish vocabulary: groundwater – grundvatten

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Gang criminals linked to Sweden’s personal care assistant industry

All of Sweden’s major companies that provide personal care assistants have connections to organised crime, according to an investigation by the police and the Social Insurance Agency.

Four out of ten clients are estimated to have come into contact with personal care assistants who have links to or are active in organised crime.

The report is based on a large number of cross-checks of public authority data.

“The analysis shows that gang criminals and their families to a large extent operate in the personal care industry, both as representatives and as assistants while being criminally active,” reads a press statement.

Swedish vocabulary: cross-checks – korskörningar