Mark Majzner is a laid-back 42-year-old Australian who until now barely had a political bone in his body. But this all changed after he signed a deal that allowed his modest company to compete with one of Sweden's largest and most entrenched state-owned monopolies, Systembolaget.

The government-owned alcohol retailer has a presence on every high street and is known by the nickname "The System". Swedes cannot buy alcohol from any other retailer and most of its stores keep bottles behind locked glass doors, bringing an element of pre-1989 eastern Europe to Sweden's otherwise 21st century shopping streets.