Romanian investment fund Fondul Proprietatea, which holds a 9% stake in the state-controlled nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica, doesn’t want to renew the mandate of the current board and keep the same board members and general director for another four years starting April 25, next year.

Greg Konieczny, portfolio manager of Fondul Proprietatea, argued that the proposal to renew the mandates of the board members and the CEO of Nuclearelectrica is unacceptable for shareholders, given that the board members “failed to take any measures to tackle the market value decrease, which caused over RON 2 billion (EUR 453 million) loss to shareholders since the company’s listing in September 2013”.

“Both the company’s profitability and its market value are, as of today, over 60% lower than in 2013, when the board started its mandate,” Konieczny added.

He emphasized that the Energy Ministry, which holds the majority stake in Nuclearelectrica lost some EUR 373 million due to the shares’ decline.

According to the fund manager, Nuclearelectrica’s profitability sharply declined while the remuneration of the board and directors increased. The fund is also unhappy that “the current board has engaged in negotiations for the highly expensive project to build Reactors 3 and 4 and refused to disclose costs incurred so far with it, instead of securing financing for the refurbishment of Reactor 1”.

Fondul Proprietatea asks the Energy Ministry to start the recruiting procedure for new board members and thinks that the new board should also recruit a new general manager. Nuclearelectrica’s current CEO is Daniela Lulache, who was general manager of Fondul Proprietatea before Franklin Templeton took over the fund’s management.

editor@romania-insider.com