While western media sources report that Chinese investor Huang Nubo is trying to find a way to buy land in Iceland, the Ministry of Industry denies that this is the case.
Officially speaking, Huang has been denied the ability to purchase land in Iceland on the grounds that he does not meet the legal requirements. However, he appears to have not abandoned hope just yet. The Financial Times reports:
Representatives of ZhongKun, Mr. Huang’s company, met Iceland’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism on Thursday to discuss the possibility of pushing through a restructured deal. “We are looking for a new way to take this forward,” Mr. Huang told the Financial Times on Thursday. “I am somewhat optimistic.”
The discussions centre on the idea of reclassifying ZhongKun’s investment so that it would fall under the approval of a different ministry, thereby circumventing Minister of the Interior Ogmundur Jonasson, who issued the original rejection, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Assistant to the Minister of Industry Kolbeinn Marteinsson told Morgunblaðið that no such meeting took place, and that the Times’ story is a mystery to him.
Minister of Industry Katrín Júlíusdóttir has recently expressed the desire to help Huang invest in the tourist industry in Iceland, but no desire was expressed to help him buy land in Iceland.
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