Volvo is one of the companies that has received the most layoff support of all in Sweden.

When the factories were at a standstill, 20,000 employees were at home.

In total, the company has received just over SEK 1.3 billion from the Swedish state for short-term layoffs.

But today the profit turned out really better than expected.

And the question of paying back came up already this morning when a stock analyst asked if it would not be wise to pay back the layoff support.

- The answer is no.

We will not do that, said Martin Lundstedt.

He called the stock analyst's question populist.

According to Martin Lundstedt, the situation would be much worse if, as in the financial crisis, there was no state redundancy support.

- The redundancy support was created to avoid large redundancies in Sweden, make the conditions competitive compared to factories in other countries, and to be able to restart the economy quickly.

Both we and the union think it has worked well for Volvo, says Martin Lundstedt to SVT.

Possible to call an extraordinary general meeting

After SVT's review last spring, which showed that several large listed companies distributed money to shareholders and at the same time counted on redundancy support, it was forbidden to pay dividends to companies that also receive the support.

But if Volvo pays back the support, it would be possible to call an extraordinary general meeting and pay a share dividend already this year.

Before the crisis, Volvo had planned to distribute SEK 27 billion to shareholders this year.

Shouldn't you pay back to be able to distribute to shareholders?

- The board presented the proposal when we were in the middle of the pandemic.

The outlook was zero when the decisions were made.

Then it was wise to maintain the strong financial position.

The board will now work out a proposal for a dividend to the meeting in April, says Martin Lundstedt.

But the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth is now considering not allowing dividends next year, even if it has received support this year.

It writes Dagens Industri today.

- I got that information this morning.

We get to follow that discussion and when it is clear, we get to come back, says Martin Lundstedt.