L’former boss of EDF Henri Proglio assured that he would not leave his functions within Rosatom, Russian public giant in the nuclear sectornoting that “nobody” had asked him to do so, in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche.
“Let’s be clear: I don’t intend to resign”, assures Henri Proglio who indicates that he sits on the international board of Rosatom alongside other foreigners (Italian, Finnish, Japanese, Spanish) and that “none of them, at ( his) acquaintance has withdrawn”. “Nobody had the idea to ask me that”.
” I am not neither a politician like François Fillon, nor an administrator like he was until recently. In short, my situation has nothing to do with his,” he added, referring to the former Prime Minister’s decision, announced at the end of February, to resign from his mandates in the boards of directors of the Russians Sibur and Zarubezhneftin front of Russian invasion in Ukraine.
“It annoys me when people say that I work for the Russian government”
“It annoys me when people say that I work for the Russian government or that I receive huge attendance fees. This mission earns me 2,000 euros per month (…). Last week, I was in Moscow for Rosatom, since then everything has stopped”, explains Henri Proglio, ensuring that his role is limited to a dialogue “on the issues related to the atom”.
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Furthermore, “I remind you that Rosatom has long been using and buying Arabelle turbines for its power stations, manufactured by Alstom and then General Electric, it is even its main customer. I also remind you that EDF is going to buy out this nuclear activity. So we would do well to think regarding it, ”he said.
In 2015, Henri Proglio had renounced the non-executive presidency of the Thales group on the eve of the General Assembly which was to appoint him, denouncing a “campaign” of Bercy. The Ministry of the Economy, headed by Emmanuel Macron, then judged that its relations with Rosatom were likely to create “conflicts” of interest.
