Sweden: Vattenfall’s CEO under Investigation for Bribery

Vattenfall has launched an independent inquiry to investigate claims according to which its CEO Oystein Loseth received a cash bribe during a takeover of the Dutch company Nuon in 2009, The Press and Journal Energy writes.

Loseth has welcomed the investigation and said that it will “put an end to this rumour” by making clear that he hasn’t received any additional cash. He added that the regular payments he received in the form of salary, bonus and pension can be seen in Vattenfall’s and Nuon’s annual reports.

This action comes about a month after the Scottish Government approved the development of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), which is a joint venture between Vattenfall and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG) – plus development consortium partner Technip.

Vattenfall’s EOWDC partners stated that they are not familiar with the current investigation, according to the news site.

“We want everybody to feel confident that the matter is thoroughly investigated. The person who will lead the investigation will be announced soon,” said President of the board of directors at Vattenfall, Lars Nordstrom.

Offshore WIND Staff, April 30, 2013; Image: Vattenfall