Osaka mayor urges Kansai Electric to revamp management

October 2, 2019

Osaka--Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui urged Kansai Electric Power Co. <9503> on Tuesday to revamp its management after company executives received money and goods from a former official in a nuclear plant host town in central Japan.

Kansai Electric said Friday that 20 executives received money and goods worth 320 million yen from a late former deputy mayor of Takahama, Fukui Prefecture. The town hosts the company's Takahama nuclear plant.

"I don't think people who received presents that are believed to be back margin will be able to restore trust in the company," Matsui told reporters at the municipal office in Osaka, western Japan.

"It's natural for the company to replace them to rebuild trust," he said. His municipal government is the top shareholder of Osaka-based Kansai Electric.

The 20 executives include Chairman Makoto Yagi and President Shigeki Iwane, according to the company's Friday announcement.

Matsui said he will work with other shareholders of Kansai Electric to reform the company if the current management refuses to step down over the scandal.

Kansai Electric is scheduled to hold a press conference on Wednesday to discuss further details of the scandal.

All those who received the money and goods should resign, Matsui said. "As Kansai Electric is a large company, I think there are replacements if those people take responsibility," he said.

The former Takahama deputy mayor is believed to have used funds he had received mainly in connection with nuclear plant construction as resources for providing the money and goods to the Kansai Electric executives, informed sources have said.

Industry minister Isshu Sugawara said at a press conference in Tokyo that he has instructed Kansai Electric to set up an independent committee to probe the scandal.

Kansai Electric should clarify management's responsibility over the scandal after the committee draws up a report, Sugawara said. Jiji Press