RWE Supervisory Board to See More Departures

More representatives on the supervisory board of German utility RWE are to step down at next year's annual shareholder meeting, potentially bringing the number of places on the 20 strong board to be filled at the elections next April, to at least six.

 

RWE faces the worst crisis in its 117-year history, suffering from low wholesale power prices, a surge in renewable capacity, uncertainty over the size of provisions for the shutdown of its nuclear plants and embarrassing billing issues at British subsidiary npower.

 

RWE Chairman Manfred Schneider, 76, is set to leave office in 2016 after having served seven years at the top of the board, which is notorious for political infighting, with the battle for key positions often fought out in the media.

 

The supervisory board on Sept. 18 named former SAP finance chief Werner Brandt as its clear favourite to take over from Schneider.

 

Peter Lafos of trade union Verdi, who served since 2009, confirmed to Reuters that he will leave due to his age.

 

An official at the group of communal shareholders, called VKA, confirmed that its representative, the 72-year old VKW managing director Roger Graef, will also step down.

 

Wirtschaftswoche magazine earlier reported the departures of Lafos and Graef as well as of a former district authority chief, Frithjof Kuehn.

 

Kuehn, aged 71, of St Augustin near Bonn was not immediately contactable.

 

Sources said in August that Daimler chief Dieter Zetsche and ex-ThyssenKrupp (TKA.F) chief Ekkehard Schulz will also leave the board, but neither have confirmed this.

 

RWE declined comment on the supervisory board on Wednesday.