TeliaSonera's CEO Lars Nyberg has stepped down, a day after delivering the operator's annual results and an independent report cleared the company of bribery allegations. CFO Per-Arne Blomquist has been named acting CEO until a successor is found.
Nyberg, who had earlier hinted he could leave before his term expires at the end of this year, said he was relieved that the report by law firm Mannheimer Swartling had not found anything to support the allegations over TeliaSonera's investments in Uzbekistan. At the same time he said he regretted the shortcomings identified in the report, which criticised the company for not investigating its local partner in Uzbekistan enough and possibly exposing the group to unethical activity.
Nyberg said he was informed by the board that there would be "significant changes to the composition of the board" after it received the Mannheimer Swartling report, and he no longer had the support of the board. As a result he has resigned after over five years as CEO.
Nyberg earlier survived a vote of confidence by the board last October, when the allegations over Uzbekistan emerged in the Swedish press and the local prosecutor stepped up its investigation of the case. That investigation is still pending. The board said at the time that it was already looking for Nyberg's successor. The Swedish government, the company's largest shareholder with a 37.3 percent stake, has also put pressure on the company to suspend certain senior executives while the investigation is underway.
The company is set for a major renewal in management this year, as chairman Anders Narvinger has also said he will step down at the AGM in April.
