The government’s rocades among the authorities’ top managers mean that the so-called “elephant cemetery” at the government office is growing.
So does the state’s bill, and even though directors-general are poked, they raise salaries in the millions for several years to come.
Last week, climate and environment minister Romina Pourmokhtaris (L) announced to the state secretary that the Radiation Safety Authority’s director general Nina Cromnier may leave her post.
According to the government, someone with expertise in “reactor safety issues and radiation protection issues” is now being sought.
But Nina Cromnier being poked does not mean the end of her civil service career.
The outgoing director general will now be given “other tasks”, according to the government office. The placement will be with the Ministry of Climate and Business, starting on Monday next week. What the poked general manager will do, however, is unclear.
Keeps million salary
If the duties are now changed, the salary is the same, however. Nina Cromnier will earn SEK 123,800 in monthly salary, a salary she can keep for two years because her appointment expires in May 2025. That is an annual salary of almost SEK 1.5 million.
Directors-general who are being probed have previously, among other things, participated in various government investigations. They may remain in office as long as their respective appointments are valid.
The move to the government office thus means that Nina Cromnier ends up in the so-called “elephant graveyard”.
Anders Kessling, former head of the agency Delegationen för segregation, Delmos, which has been closed since the turn of the year, is already sitting there.
The authority was shut down after the Moderates, the Christian Democrats and the Sweden Democrats got their 2021 budget through in opposition.
Despite that, the former director general remains on the state’s payroll.
The bill grows
Aftonbladet has taken note of Anders Kessling’s latest employment agreement, which was signed in November last year by Minister of Labor Markets and Integration Johan Pehrson (L). It appears that Anders Kessling receives a salary of SEK 96,500 a month, almost SEK 1.2 million annually, until the end of June 2026. If he wants.
Anders Kessling tells Aftonbladet that he is not satisfied with his situation and he does not want to stay the entire term.
– I’m looking for a job. This is not a fun situation, he says.
According to the government office, Anders Kessling is now a manager at the equality unit where he works with migration issues, workplace crime and Sweden’s compliance with the Istanbul Convention, among other things; a European agreement on violence against women in Europe.
– Now I sit and work on various preparation matters, says Anders Kessling.
If the government continues to replace directors-general with time left on their appointments, the bill will grow even more.
It has already been clear that the Migration Agency’s Director General Mikael Ribbenvik and Sida’s Director General Carin Jämtin will not have their assignments extended. Their appointments expire in May and they do not end up in the elephant graveyard.