Transport and Communications Minister Anne Berner found herself at the centre of a storm when she intervened to prevent state-owned airports operator Finavia from taking legal action against former managers for staking company funds in risky derivatives investments. The investments eventually resulted in losses totaling 34 million euros between 2009 and 2011.
On Tuesday the National Audit Office released the results of a probe into the derivatives trades and subsequent events. State auditors found that led by Anne Berner, the actions of the ministry of Transport and Communications did not fully comply with principles of good governance. Rather, the statutory body found that the ministry responsible for government ownership steering policies had intervened in the actions of the Finavia board in an "inappropriate manner".
The National Audit Office VTV found that the ministry undermined the discretion of the Finavia board in autumn 2015 by blocking it from taking legal action over losses sustained in the high-risk derivatives investments. According to the VTV report, the ministry also failed to hand over to the Finavia board expert opinions that did not recommend an out-of-court settlement.
VTV stressed that as owner, the state had broad discretion in matters subject to interpretation, but it noted that the ministry’s conduct led to a blurring of the balance of power between the state and the state-owned company.
The audit office found that Finavia and its board acted in a rational manner to get to the bottom of the losses caused by the derivatives investments.
Minister challenges audit report
For her part, Minister Anne Berner issued a press statement Tuesday, in which she challenged the conclusions of the audit report. The ministry said that it did not interfere in Finavia’s operational affairs in an inappropriate manner.
"Experts and the ministry appear to have a different understanding than VTV about the kind of activity that is required by the state owner in terms of the governance guidelines required for a [state-owned] company," Berner said in the statement.
The minister said that the ministry had cooperated with the audit office in 2015 on the derivatives case, at which time VTV still seemed to believe that there was some room for making manoeuvring before taking a decision on legal action.
Last autumn Finavia chair Riitta Tiuraniemi abruptly quit her position after differences with Minister Berner over the company's desire to seek legal action following the loss-making investments.
Earlier in June, following a separate police probe, prosecutors pressed charges of official misconduct against a former deputy CEO and finance manager over the matter. Both of the accused have denied any wrongdoing.