Uniper Supervisory Board Chair Quits

All five independent members of Uniper's supervisory board including chairman Bernhard Reutersberg resigned with immediate effect April 3, the German utility said. The Finnish utility Fortum closed its majority shareholding purchase late in March, giving it about 70% of the company and more seats on the board.

However it will not buy the rest of the shares until the end of 2021 at the earliest, it has said, meaning Uniper will continue as a subsidiary, paying a dividend but with its own separate profit and loss account.

The court procedure to appoint the new supervisory board members will be initiated soon, for confirmation at the annual general meeting – in whatever form that takes place – on May 20 2020.

Reutersberg had been on the board of Uniper's parent company, E.ON and became chair of Uniper in 2016, just as the company was being created after a spin-off of almost all of E.ON’s activities in conventional power generation in Europe and Russia, its gas midstream businesses, and commodity trading.

Uniper said Reutersberg "created the conditions that permitted Uniper to succeed as an independent listed company" and that during his time the company's markert capitalisation at its peak almost tripled.

He said: "Now is the time to say goodbye. I thank all my supervisory board colleagues, especially Marion Helmes, Rebecca Ranich, Jean Francois Cirelli and David Davies, who resign together with me, for their dedication and support. I also thank the management board and specifically all employees for their outstanding work.”

He wished "all Uniper employees all the best, and I’m fully confident that Uniper with its people and capabilities will continue to be successful in the future.”