RUNACHER BASKET. The Minister for Energy Transition is suspected of a conflict of interest for donations made to her minor children, from tax havens and funds from her father, a former leader of the oil giant Perenco.
These are revelations that could stain the plans of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, and by extension of macronie. The Minister of Energy Transition is suspected of conflict of interest since the online media investigation Disclose published on Tuesday November 8, 2022 which lifts the veil on donations made to the three minor children of Agnès Pannier-Runacher by the father of the government figure and who is none other than the former leader of the second French oil producer, Perenco . Two elements make the anti-corruption body Anticor wince: the fact that the donations which amount to more than one million euros come from funds based in tax havens and that they are apparently linked to the former activity of Jean-Michel Runacher in the oil company, while the ecological missions of the minister are not unrelated to the oil industry.
Agnès Pannier-Runacher is also questioned by this journalistic investigation because she never mentioned these donations, which date back to 2016, in these asset declarations when she took office in 2018 (Economy), in 2020 (Industry) or in 2022 (Energy transition). The revelations drew the attention of the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP) which intends to “carry out in-depth checks”.
What is alleged against Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher?
If the Minister of Energy Transition is singled out, it is because the interests of her family could come into conflict with her ministerial missions. Disclose indicated in his article that the three minor children of number 2 of Ecology in the government are 100% shareholders and since 2016 of a company set up by the father of the minister thanks to speculative funds based in tax havens : Arjunem. When the company was set up – perceived as a pretext to bequeath to the Pannier-Runacher children donations of several hundred thousand euros each without having to pay inheritance tax – the beneficiaries were only 13, 10 and 5 years old and were legally represented by their mother.
Another questionable point, the more than 1.2 million euros contributed to Arjunem’s funds come from the finances of Jean-Michel Runacher, former director and manager of the oil company Perenco until 2020 and still an adviser “from time in time” in addition to still being at the head of at least two financial companies of the multinational. However, the fortune of the minister’s father “is so closely linked to that of the oil group that the funds invested in the family business come from the same investments as those of the oil company”, notes the newspaper investigation. Moreover, the funds of the Arjunem company are also placed in a Luxembourg bank, CBQ Quilvest, where part of the finances of the Perrodo family, founders of Perenco, are also based.
Did Agnès Pannier-Runacher hide a conflict of interest?
Agnès Pannier-Runacher’s family heritage is at the center of questions, but the minister is also suspected of having concealed what is understood by some to be a conflict of interest, starting with the Anticor association, an association whose vocation is to fight against all forms of political corruption. “There is no doubt that the minister is in a situation of conflict of interest. She should have declared the company preventively in the observations category as soon as she was appointed in 2018″, judge Béatrice Guillemont, general manager of the organization and doctor of probity law with journalists from Disclose. Laurent Dublet, member of the board of Anticor, abounded on France Info: “We realize that we are facing a political elite who will hide links of financial interests in total contradiction with the public policies they display. and the speeches she displays. This type of behavior is an absolutely incredible attack on our democratic system”. “We are at least in a conflict of interest, which is, according to the law of 2013, a situation of interference likely to influence or appear to influence the independent, impartial and objective exercise of a function. problem in the face of immense climate issues”, judged Delphine Batho, ecologist deputy for Deux-Sèvres.
However, the Minister for Energy Transition does not feel in any way in conflict of interest since she considers that she does not have “a vocation, nor any legal obligation to be associated with the professional and financial activities” of her father and firmly adds that she does not never having had to deal with “files related to Perenco” during his activities as minister since 2018. What about his asset declarations which never mentioned the funds or the Arjunem family company? Here again, the minister sees no ambiguity. The law on the law on transparency obliges the members of government to declare all their income and patrimonial resources as well as those of their spouse but no obligation concerns the declaration of the patrimony of the children. And in fact the three children of Agnès Pannier-Runacher are the only shareholders of the company although they still have no management power.
Agnès Pannier-Runacher worried by HATPV checks?
The minister’s defense is already well established and can count on strong lawyers, in particular Me Christophe Ingrain who manages the affairs of the Keeper of the Seals and Me François Kopf who was Bernard Tapie’s lawyer, specifies France info. If she defends herself from the accusations and suspicions brought against her, Agnès Pannier-Runacher assured that she would be available to the High Authority for the transparency of public life. The HATPV has promised to carry out in-depth checks and has already partly questioned the minister’s arguments on the absence of a declaration for the children’s assets: “The absence of a declaration obligation does not exempt the public official from ensuring to prevent and put an end to situations of conflict of interest that would arise from other indirect interests held, such as the activity of children or other family members for example”.