ODSHERRED: When the parties in Odsherred are to constitute themselves after election night, they will not be negotiating for a position as chairman or deputy chairman of major public companies.
Because after the scandal in Odsherred Forsyning, where the economy has run wild, and the former board has been sued by Odsherred Municipality itself, demanding 50 million DKK in compensation, it has been agreed that in the future they will have professional board members to lead.
- The entire situation surrounding Odsherred Forsyning has given rise to a lot of reflection on what has happened and what we can do to prevent a similar situation in the future, and here we have come to the conclusion that both the chairman and deputy chairman should be professional board members, tells Mayor Karina Vincentz (Nyt Odsherred) to DK Nyt.
Karina Vincentz says that the municipality will continue to have one to two seats on the board, but in the future it will not be for the chairman positions.
- The appointment has previously been part of the constitution among the parties involved. Here we have of course looked at which parties and politicians have the right skills for the job, but we just have to acknowledge that the previous board did not have the necessary skills to run the company, says Karina Vincentz.
- If the municipality were to take over Odsherred Forsyning again, it will therefore be necessary for us to get the right skills from outside. Therefore, we will not have to negotiate for any chairman positions during the constitution, she adds.
The desire to bring in professional forces for the chairman positions will apply to all major public companies in the municipality. After Nordea took over the management of Odsherred Forsyning last year, only the joint municipal waste and energy company Argo will be covered by the new decision.
Here, however, the board is already being professionalized, since the waste sector is to be exposed to competition and made into a corporation, which is why the board must be professional in the future.
Danish District Heating: Odsherred is an exception
The case in Odsherred does not just have local consequences. The case risks weakening trust in the district heating sector as a whole, says Troels Blicher Danielsen, CEO of Tekniq, which organizes technical installation and construction companies.
Therefore, the organization proposes introducing requirements for professional boards of directors in the utility companies:
- The sector works with enormously large and complex projects, and this requires that people with the right skills are in charge of the crucial decisions, says Troels Blicher Danielsen.
- Based solely on the cases that we have seen in the latest city council term, where the case in Odsherred is the most conspicuous, it is clear that something is not as it should be, he adds.
At the trade organization Dansk Fjernvarme, which organizes most district heating companies in the country, political chief Rune Moesgaard acknowledges that the case in Odsherred is serious. But he warns against generalizations:
- Although the case in Odsherred is serious, it is important to remember that it is an exception and not representative of the entire sector. The vast majority of district heating companies operate responsibly and deliver stable, green and cheap district heating to their customers.
Rune Moesgaard emphasizes that the sector is already subject to strict regulation:
- It is important to remember that the district heating sector is already subject to extensive regulation and control from the authorities. This naturally places some demands on the boards of the companies. And many of the municipal companies already have external board members, he tells DK Nyt.
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