Anne Lauvergeon, the former boss of Areva, indicted in the case Uramin – France Bleu

Former emblematic boss of Areva, Anne Lauvergeon, was set Friday examined by the investigating judges in an investigation of gray areas surrounding the acquisition of Uramin in 2007, an operation that proved disastrous for the French nuclear giant.

the one nicknamed “Atomic Anne”, who led the group from 2001 to 2011 was indicted for publication and presentation of inaccurate accounts and spreading false information, a judicial source said after the hearing that lasted all day. Anne Lauvergeon has instead been placed under the least unfavorable status of assisted witness for the offense of abuse of power.

Two judicial inquiries have been opened since 2014, one on the disastrous takeover of the mining company Canadian Uramin, who aspired to exploit three uranium deposits in Namibia, South Africa and Central Africa, the other on the presentation of the Areva group accounts in 2010 and 2011, previous years are covered by the prescription.

in this second survey that was heard Anne Lauvergeon. “She was indicted for offenses purely formal. There is no suspicion of dishonesty against it,” he told AFP his lawyer, Jean-Pierre Versini-Campinchi. In the first survey, the husband of Anne Lauvergeon, Olivier Fric, suspected of having speculated on the title of Uramin at redemption by taking advantage of inside information and of having drawn nearly 300,000 euros of profit, was indicted for insider trading March 23

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Specifically, the investigating magistrates want to establish if Anne Lauvergeon lobbied to minimize provisions asset impairments in the group’s accounts, in order to delay the discovery of the collapse in the value of Uramin and hide this failure while trying to stay ahead of the group.

in late 2011, after the departure of his boss, amid poor relations with the head of state of the time Nicolas Sarkozy, Areva had finally announce heavy losses and a provision of € 1.5 billion on Uramin value. In his denunciation to justice, early 2014, the Court of Auditors estimated that items had been hidden in the supervisory board and the supervisory authorities representing the State, the main shareholder of Areva.

Among the losses Uramin related to the Fukushima disaster and other challenges such as the construction of an EPR in Finland, Areva ended up in the red in 2015 for the fifth consecutive year. The group will benefit from a massive bailout of EUR 5 billion of the French State, but it will cut 6,000 jobs worldwide, including 3,000 to 4,000 in France. Anne Lauvergeon also highlighted the Fukushima disaster, which occurred in March 2011, and its impact on the price of uranium, to explain the collapse of Uramin.