The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire regretted Sunday "
the haste
" in the Veolia-Suez merger file, wanted by Veolia against the will of Suez, which resulted in a current blockage, and affirmed the need to "
keep two industrial champions
”.
Read also: Engie, Suez, Veolia and the risk of capitalism becoming wild
“
We will see
” if this project will succeed or not, “
but that simply confirms us in what I pleaded from the beginning: it was necessary to take its time.
I regret the haste in which this whole affair has been conducted.
(...) In return for what, as always (when we rush), it is blocked
”, declared Bruno Le Maire in the program Dimanche en Politique on France 3.
"
What matters is that there is an amicable agreement
" whatever the time it will take, "
that we keep two industrial champions because we need competition, and (...) that we protect employment.
In an economic period like this, the first responsibility of a business owner, whether he is at the head of Engie, Suez or Veolia, is to protect jobs,
”said Bruno. The mayor.
Seized by the representative bodies of Suez employees for not having "
been informed and consulted regularly on this project
", the Paris court ordered on October 9 the "
suspension of the transaction
" of acquisition by the water and waste giant Veolia with a 29.9% stake in Engie in its competitor Suez.
Veolia's offer of 3.4 billion euros was accepted on October 5 by the board of directors of Engie, against the will of the state, which owns 23.6% of Engie.
“
We are the first shareholder (of Engie) but we are not the only shareholder.
We voted against this decision and if I had to vote again I would vote the same.
Because you do not build anything large, nothing stable, nothing strong in the industrial field if you do not have an amicable agreement and a reciprocal understanding
”, hammered Bruno Le Maire on Sunday.
Prime Minister Jean Castex and President Emmanuel Macron are on the same line in this matter, he assured.
"
I do not take a decision of this importance without referring it to the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic, of course
".
"
Since this operation was not amicable, we said no
".
He brushed aside the questioning of his predecessor Arnaud Montebourg - expressed in a letter to Jean Castex and in an interview - as to a "
Russian-style scenario
" in this affair, with "
distribution of privileges to a small oligarchy
": "
Montebourg n ' is not a curse near,
"tackled Bruno Le Maire.
To read also: Veolia-Suez: The Mayor regrets "the haste" and wants to keep "two industrial champions"
Thursday, the new environmental group of the Senate called for the establishment of a "
commission of inquiry
" concerning the takeover bid that Veolia wants to launch on Suez, denouncing an "
opaque
"
operation
with potentially "
disastrous
"
consequences
on the plan social, with 4,000 jobs threatened by this merger in France and 10,000 worldwide.
