The election of Arthouros Zervos as head of Greece's dominant utility, Public Power Corporation SA (PPC.AT), may signal a new era of consensus at the company after two years of stormy--and sometimes violent--confrontation between management and the unions.
The election of Arthouros Zervos as head of
Greece
's
dominant utility, Public Power Corporation SA (PPC.AT), may signal a new era of
consensus at the company after two years of stormy--and sometimes
violent--confrontation between management and the unions.
On Tuesday, the PPC board of directors formally elected Zervos, a 57-year-old
academic by training and president of the European Renewable Energy Council, as
chairman and chief executive officer of 51%-state-owned PPC, replacing outgoing
Chairman and CEO Takis Athanassopoulos.
But even before taking on the post, Zervos--along with the newly-elected
Socialist government that nominated him--has moved to mollify PPC's powerful
labor union, Genop-PPC, which clashed repeatedly with his predecessor and
stymied efforts to restructure the company.
Specifically, Zervos and the government have said they will push ahead with two
long-delayed investments in lignite-fired power plants and will seek to
restructure, and likely increase, power tariffs to pay for increased CO2
emission costs in the future--both key issues for Genop.
In a statement by the union last week, Genop highlighted the "good
climate" between itself and the new management, prompting analysts to flag
the emerging consensus at the company.
"[There have been] recent statements by PPC's union on new lignite
investments [and] the need to restructure tariffs so as to incorporate the CO2
burden," notes Eurobank Securities. "These were along the same lines
with Mr. Zervos' statements and relevant comments from the ministry of energy,
confirming the existence of a consensus on crucial matters for PPC."
The new Socialist government is seen as much more closely allied with the
unions than the previous center-right New Democracy government, which Genop saw
as planning to break up and privatize the state-owned utility.
At the board of directors meeting Tuesday, the government also appointed
Ioannis Tsarouchos, a longtime labor leader, as one of the government's
official representatives to the board. Combined with the two seats currently
reserved for Genop, the appointment means that the union will effectively have
three votes on the 11-member board.
These moves mark a big change from the past two years, when Genop regularly
disrupted board meetings, staged rolling strikes and effectively sabotaged
efforts by Athanassopoulos to form a new joint venture with
Germany
's RWE
AG (RWE.XE).
"There is a consensus emerging at PPC between management, government and
the unions," said an analyst at one of
Greece
's
leading brokerages. "And the smart thing to do is for the management to
find some level of cooperation; otherwise we will see a return to the old
scenario of continuous conflict."
Διαβάστε ακόμα
Τετ, 16 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 20:09
Τετ, 16 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 20:06
Τρι, 15 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 17:24
Τρι, 15 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 17:21
Δευ, 14 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 18:15