Landsvirkjun chair says outgoing CEO was not invited to board lunches

Landsvirkjun board chair Brynja Baldursdóttir says the board held informal lunches without outgoing CEO Hörður Arnarson to discuss its working arrangements, not the company’s business. She spoke to mbl.is after Hörður said board meetings had taken place without him being invited.

Brynja said no formal board meetings had been held without Hörður, except meetings to discuss matters concerning him, as provided for by law. She said the board had met for lunch to discuss its procedures and cooperation, which she described as internal board matters rather than Landsvirkjun business.

“It would have been absurd to discuss the company’s operations without him, as he is an exceptionally capable CEO,” she said. Brynja added that the deputy CEO had not attended the lunches either.

Brynja said the gatherings did not breach Landsvirkjun’s laws. Those rules state that the CEO should attend board meetings and may speak and make proposals, unless the board decides otherwise in individual cases. They also say the deputy CEO should attend board meetings. The company’s specific legislation likewise requires the CEO to attend.

The minister had not been informed about the informal gatherings. Brynja said she did not see why he should have been, and that the board had initiated them.

Asked whether the board’s resignation had been discussed because of a possible breakdown in trust, Brynja said it had not. She said the board had sought to follow sound procedures and good governance, and that it was parting from Hörður with goodwill and respect.