Political controversy over Fortum stock option perks escalates

Opposition MP wants investigation of Mönkäre and Tuomioja

Kimmo Sasi

Sinikka Mönkäre

Erkki Tuomioja

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The controversy surrounding the generous stock option plans for executives of the state-owned energy company Fortum continued to escalate on Wednesday.
      Opposition Member of Parliament Kimmo Sasi (Nat. Coalition Party), the chairman of the Parliament’s Constitutional Committee, called for an investigation into whether or not two Social Democratic former ministers of trade and industry, Erkki Tuomioja and Sinikka Mönkäre, have monetary liability for the authorisation of the perks, that have been worth up to half a billion euros.
      Although Sasi himiself served as a minister at the Ministry of Trade and Industry between 1999 and 2002, he does not feel that he shares any of the blame.
      Sasi says that Mönkäre jealously kept matters related to Fortum to herself. Mönkäre, meanwhile, remembers that Sasi was not particularly interested in Fortum.
     
Tuomioja, who is currently the Minister for Foreign Affairs, rejected Sasi’s call for monetary compensation, and denounced Sasi’s statements as "substandard".
      "Kimmo Sasi is shooting at everything that moves", Tuomioja said on Wednesday.
      He added that he had always thought that stock option systems are not appropriate for state-owned companies. He says that normal incentive programmes should have been enough, but that there was no possibility for such a system with the government that was in power at the time - in which the main parties were the Social Democrats and the National Coalition Party.
      "Perhaps I did not push hard enough to drop the whole stock option system."
     
Top figures in Fortum itself have expressed surprise that the stock option debate has become so politicised.
      The company’s head of communications, Carola Teir-Lehtinen, notes that "the option systems have been decided on in a proper manner". She says that it is surprising that the matter has come up later.
      Former minister Mönkäre has appealed to Fortum’s CEO Mikael Lilius to pay back the money. Lilius did not comment on the matter on Wednesday. Teir-Lehtinen said that as the matter has become politicised, Fortum does not want to take part in the debate right now.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Fortum options spark row between Centre Party and Social Democrats (28.9.2005)
  State-owned Fortum's stock option incentives worth half a billion euros (23.9.2005)
  Generous Fortum stock options cause indignation in Sweden (2.2.2005)

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