New Chairman Yoshimitsu Kobayashi of Tokyo Electric Power Co.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has formally decided to appoint Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, former secretary general of Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives), to the vacant position of chairman. The company plans to hasten a drastic management reform as it faces the challenge of rebuilding its organization after a series of scandals at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) held a general meeting of shareholders in Tokyo on the 29th, attended by about 270 people.

At the general meeting, the board of directors approved the appointment of Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, former chairman of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation and former representative secretary of the Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives), as a director, and at a subsequent board meeting he was officially appointed as the new chairman.

The chairman of TEPCO, who was invited from outside the company after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011, has been promoting management reforms, but the position had been vacant since June last year when his predecessor, Takashi Kawamura, retired.

By inviting Mr. Kobayashi, who is well versed in energy policy and a leading figure in the business world, to the top management position, TEPCO plans to hasten the drastic reform of the organization, which has been plagued by a series of scandals, including inadequate counter-terrorism measures at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.

Regarding the appointment of Yoshimitsu Kobayashi as the new chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Kajiyama said at a press conference after the cabinet meeting on March 29, "TEPCO is a company that was allowed to continue to exist in order to fulfill its responsibility to Fukushima. I hope that the new chairman will work on drastic management reforms to properly respond to the compensation and decommissioning of nuclear reactors and to increase corporate value in order to fulfill his responsibility to Fukushima.

In addition, he expressed his hope that the new chairman would demonstrate his ability to deal with the mountain of management issues, saying, "I would like him to lead the organization in strengthening its overall structure amidst many difficult issues, such as recovering trust from the series of scandals, dealing with harmful rumors toward the disposal of treated water, and compensating fishermen.

Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210629/k10013110411000.html?utm_int=news-business_contents_list-items_011