Kasino-smell for Bellona

Since 2020, the environmental foundation Bellona has received nearly three million Norwegian kroner from Color Lines casino operations. This year alone, the organization has received roughly 200,000 kroner, a symbolic gesture of support to an organization that was on the brink of bankruptcy just last summer. E24 later revealed that Bellona subsequently found itself in a new financial dilemma, breaking an agreement to pay off debt to its sister organization, Bellona Deutschland.

The funds continue to flow, seemingly unfavorably for the environmental foundation. The Lotteri- og stiftelsestilsynet has now determined that Bellona has exhausted its last windfall from Color Lines casino operations for the foreseeable future. In a decree dated August 20th of this year, the supervisory authority revoked the approval Bellona needed to receive funds from gambling.

(Sources: Color Line and Lotteri- og stiftelsestilsynet) Color Line distributes funds from its gaming operations annually to socially beneficial causes. Organizations seeking such grants must first receive prior approval from the Lotteri- og stiftelsestilsynet, explains Erik Brynhildsbakken, the company's director of communication and community relations.

It is this approval that Bellona has lost. The reason is that the environmental foundation failed to submit its 2025 financial statements on time – not even by the extended deadline of September 10th. As widely known, we were significantly delayed in revising the 2025 financial statements, which prevented us from meeting the strict reporting deadlines set by the Lotteri- og stiftelsestilsynet, and thus we lost the approval to receive income from gambling operations for the current period, says Bellona's daily director, Sveinung Rotevatn, to E24.

This is fortunate, as it is not a substantial income for us, but we will still seek new approval next time, he adds. The current financial statements, signed and delivered on October 22nd, show a significant loss of 8.9 million kroner and a negative equity of 10.7 million. The supervisory authority's decision means Bellona could soon receive gambling funds again as early as 2028, according to John Arne Øyen Wennevold, a senior advisor in the Lotteri- og stiftelsestilsynet's division for gambling.

The foundation's approval was temporarily suspended as of October 1st, 2026, and it will receive a six-month quarantine before being eligible for new approval. Therefore, Bellona could only regain approval as early as April 1st, 2027, writes Wennevold in an email. Bellona will thus not be able to receive gambling funds for the third quarter of 2026 or the entire next year.

The reason is that the foundation will not have the necessary prior approval when the supervisory authority decides which organizations will receive gambling funds in 2027, explains Wennevold in an email. Bellona's CFO, Dag K. Hotvedt, recently emailed the Lotteri- og stiftelsestilsynet, expressing deep regret over the foundation's failure to meet the deadlines and requesting a review of the decision.

He writes that the delay was not due to a lack of will, but rather that the foundation's board and external auditors spent more time than usual on the 2024 financial statements revision. However, the supervisory authority remains steadfast in its decision. In response to Bellona, they point out that the environmental foundation has been given ample time, along with numerous reminders, without meeting the deadline.

The supervisory authority will not grant preferential treatment based on the organization's goals, the consequences of losing gambling income, or internal circumstances. This will result in differential treatment, writes senior advisor Turid Søgnen in her reply to Bellona.