ODSHERRED: The board of directors of the crisis-stricken utility company Odsherred Forsyning has appointed former director of Odsherred Municipality Torben Greve as interim CEO, the company announced.
The appointment follows the resignation of the CEO of the past five years, Fanny Villadsen, earlier this week after a turbulent period stemming from serious financial problems in a district heating project for southern Odsherred.
The problems began to become visible in January this year, when a former CFO, who had been acting CEO for a period, was initially fired. It was shortly afterwards changed to an expulsion, on the grounds that he had violated the company's internal guidelines.
In March, a legal investigation was launched, and a police report was filed.
The district heating project has been stopped without a new start-up date, despite the fact that many citizens have disconnected gas and are only waiting for the final connection.
Subsequently, there has been a major change in the board of directors, including the chairmanship, and the local city council politicians have this week had to grant a guarantee of 110.9 million. kr. to the utility company to prevent bankruptcy.
It has also been shown that there has been no separation between the finances of Odsherred Vand and Odsherred Fjernvarme, both of which fall under Odsherred Forsyning.
Expert: As the Britta Nielsen case
Per Nikolaj Bukh, who is a professor of financial management at Aalborg University, compares the case to Sjællandske Nyheder Britta Nielsen, who as an individual stole from the National Board of Health and Welfare.
- When you occasionally see cases where there are individuals who have driven at 180 kilometers per hour in the emergency lane and violated some rules, then illegalities and losses can occur. Even though it should not be possible, he tells the media.
According to Per Nikolaj Bukh, the fact that the information that Odsherred Forsyning is a company in crisis has been withheld, when the municipality in the fall of 2023 provided a guarantee for a loan to finance the utility company's new domicile, makes the guarantee illegal.
Complex tasks
The board of directors of the utility company, headed by the newly appointed chairman of the board Susan Münster, must hire a new CEO as one of its first tasks. That task has now been initiated, and more complex tasks await.
- Another task is to fill the last board member for the board, says Susan Münster, adding that it is also important to take good care of the employees in the supply chain.
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