SVT Nyheter Blekinge has examined the municipality's close connection to the association-run book festival, which has so far been arranged on three occasions in Karlskrona: 2017-2019.

In total, the review shows that the cultural director Max Dager during the current period paid just over SEK 1.6 million in grants and via invoices to the association.

At the same time, Gudrun Gardarsdottir was involved in the association and was paid as a project manager for two out of three years.

Before the premiere event in 2017, she was enthusiastic and said in an interview with SVT on May 10:

- We already believe, before the festival has been held, that it is an incomparable success.

Gudrun Gardarsdottir was engaged as project manager already at the festival's first year in 2017, and then worked for another two years with Bok och hav.

Photo: SVT

Certified the payments myself

The non-profit association behind the festival had earlier the same year been granted SEK 150,000 in municipal grants from the so-called "cultural million".

Until the following year, the association applied for more money.

In the autumn of 2017, Dager first paid out SEK 125,000 for project management - in February 2018, another SEK 200,000 would arrive.

The decision to grant that grant had been prepared by the director of culture and experience, Max Dager - and it was he himself who, after the politicians in the committee said yes, certified the payment.

A strange detail was that the basis for the decision was prepared before the association's application was even submitted to the municipality.

Entered another address

What Max Dager hid from the cultural politicians was that the intended project manager in 2018 was his own wife - she was thus a driving force in the association he in his role as manager financially rewarded with large sums.

In one grant application, a residential address other than that of the married couple was also stated on one occasion, SVT's review shows. 

- I have contributed to this festival which I thought was an important element for Karlskrona, says Max Dager.

Continued to pay out money

It was not until 2019 that the then head of culture and leisure, Elina Tyrberg, acted by - instead of Dager - preparing the decision, which at the time gave the association SEK 300,000.

Again, the money was used in part to pay the wife.

Despite the fact that Max Dager officially no longer handled matters related to Bok och hav, it was he who approved the payment, SVT's review shows.

He also continued to certify invoices linked to the project.

SVT has been in contact with Gudrun Gardarsdottir to get her view on the payments made:

- I do not know what applies when non-profit associations receive grants from the municipality, I do not know the conflict of interest rules.

I thought that everyone in Karlskrona knew who I was and who my husband was.

Watch the interview with Max Dager in the video clip