Kansai Electric Power Co president Shigeki Iwane said he has no intention of resigning after admitting last week that he and 19 company employees had received ￥320 million (US$3 million) in payments and gifts.
Iwane told a news conference he wanted to stay in his position and regain the public’s trust.
Iwane said he and other executives had received the payments from a since deceased local official of a town that hosts one of the utility’s nuclear plants.
The scandal comes at a time when public trust in nuclear power companies in Japan is already at rock-bottom. That confidence was shattered in the aftermath of the March 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster, when a huge earthquake and tsunami triggered a meltdown at a Tokyo Electric Power Co plant.
It is also a stark reminder that despite Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push for better corporate governance, questionable practices remain at some large companies.
“I want to fulfill my responsibilities by taking leadership in finding the cause of what happened and making preventive measures,” Iwane told a news conference broadcast live on NHK.
Iwane said that no favors were given in exchange for the payments, and that business between Kansai Electric and a firm related to the person who made the payments was conducted properly.
Kyodo news agency has reported that the official previously told tax authorities that the payments were a token of appreciation to the officials for supporting the town, whose economy relies heavily on the plant.
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