On Wednesday morning, Ebba Busch looked at SVT Norrbotten's website and reacted strongly when she saw the feature about the Thai restaurant in Pajala.
At the end of the month, they stop with table service and switch to take away due to the skyrocketing electricity prices.
The restaurateur himself, Janne Tervonen, will look for a job in the mine to "get rid of a salary".
"Can't make any guarantees"
According to Vattenfall's calculations, the company's electricity bill will be three times higher in 2023 - or SEK 165,000 for the whole year.
But Energy Minister Ebba Busch (KD) dashes the hope that the electricity price support will also apply to small and medium-sized companies in northern Sweden.
- The situation is incredibly difficult for this Pajala company and many other companies, but I cannot guarantee electricity price support for smaller companies.
Instead, we have prioritized tax deferrals for salaries, VAT and employer contributions, she says and continues:
- But there will be electricity price support for electricity-intensive companies and a large part of it will end up in northern Sweden.
Vulnerable energy system
Ebba Busch believes that Sweden's energy system is far too vulnerable today.
- Now we have to build it up again and in the short term we do what we can to support the companies, but we cannot fully compensate for the high electricity price.
Then we only create increased inflation, says Ebba Busch.