EDF’s managing director has not yet been named, but we know who his boss will be. According to various sources, Alexis Zajdenweber will become Commissioner for State Holdings (APE). This administration that manages the State’s actions in public or listed companies such as EDF, SNCF, La Poste, Renault, Orange, Engie or Air France KLM. His appointment must be formalized tomorrow in the Council of Ministers.
During Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term, he was one of his closest advisers, overseeing economic and industrial issues. Since the departure of the former head of the APE, Martín Vial, his name circulated insistently in the corridors of Bercy. There was really no suspense, even if the number two of the Agency, Stéphanie Besnier, and the chief of staff of the Minister of the Economy, Bertrand Dumont, were also candidates for the position.
A very close friend of Alexis Kohler
Alexis Zajdenweber, 46, is very close to the President of the Republic and, above all, to his powerful General Secretary, Alexis Kohler. The two men have worked together for ten years. First in the cabinet of the Minister of the Economy, François Hollande, between 2012 and 2014. Later they had dealt with many files, such as the banking law, with the then deputy general secretary of the Elysee: Emmanuel Macron.
Alexis Zajdenweber then joined APE as deputy director in charge of the energy sector. He worked on the restructuring of Areva and EDF in 2015 and 2016. He was always in close contact with Alexis Kohler, then chief of staff of the Minister of the Economy: Emmanuel Macron. The three men then met, as of 2017, at the Elysee.
For five years, Alexis Zajdenweber has worked on important industry issues such as the Engie reorganization, the Air France KLM crisis and, of course, EDF. His appointment occurs when the government must formalize the appointment of Luc Rémont in the general management of EDF. The boss of the APE will be its only shareholder after the renationalization of the public company.
A very good connoisseur of energy.
The election of Alexis Zajdenweber took time because the Elysee and the Ministry of Economy searched, in vain, for a “more experienced” profile, they told us in Bercy before the summer. Various sources believe that Bruno Le Maire also did not want to have a head of administration in direct contact with the Elysee. Be that as it may, the salary – around 250,000 euros per year – did not attract any significant external profile.
The heads of public companies are full of praise for Alexis Zajdenweber. “He knows energy issues very well,” said one of them. He will need it. His first file will be the renationalization of EDF, its complete reorganization and the negotiation with Brussels of a new regulation of nuclear prices.
Source: BFM TV
