经济学人73:威立雅集团的董事会斗争 政界涉商之深

 　　Business

　　商业

　　Veolia's boardroom battle

　　威立雅集团的董事会斗争

　　Plumbing¹ the depths

　　政界涉商之深

　　What a row over a water company says about French capitalism²

　　从一家水务公司总经理的连续更替来看法国的资本主义

　　EVEN by the standards of French business, from which politics is rarely absent, it was an outrageous³ plan.

　　即便是按照法国商业的惯例，即鲜有政不涉商的标准来看，威立雅集团的打算也是极其过分的。

　　This week news emerged of a plot to oust⁴ Antoine Frerot, chief executive of Veolia, a private water and waste group, and replace him with Jean-Louis Borloo, a politician and former energy minister.

　　本周，风言威立雅水务集团密谋用前能源部长，政客让 路易·博洛取代现任总经理安东尼 弗雷罗的消息四起。

　　Civil servants regularly take the top job at blue-chip French firms.

　　在法国，公务人员担任蓝筹股公司高管也算常事。

　　But Mr Borloo, who has no experience running a business, seemed singularly unqualified to run an unprofitable company which needs deep restructuring.

　　但是由丝毫没有商业经验的博洛似乎绝不可以胜任掌管一家需要深度重组的亏损公司。

　　Mr Borloo is a friend of Henri Proglio, who was Veolia's chief executive from 2003 until 2009.

　　博洛是亨利 布格洛的好友，后者2003至09年曾任威立雅集团的总经理一职。

　　Mr Proglio then handed the job to Mr Frerot, his chosen successor, and became chief executive of Electricite de France, a utility.

　　之后接替布格洛的是其亲自挑选的继任人弗雷罗，而布格洛到公用事业公司法国电力担任总经理。

　　For a year after becoming boss of EDF, Mr Proglio stayed on as Veolia's chairman, collecting two big pay packages.

　　在布格洛掌管法国电力一年之后，他仍保有威立雅集团的董事长头衔，同时拿着两大公司的薪酬。

　　After a corporate-governance storm, he stepped down as chairman of Veolia in 2010 but kept a seat on its board.

　　在企业治理风暴之后布格洛才辞掉威立雅集团董事长一职但仍拥有董事席位。

　　The origin of this week's row is Mr Frerot's plan to restructure Veolia, one of France's largest private-sector employers.

　　本周传言的起因是，威立雅集团，这家法国头号私营公司的主管弗雷罗计划对公司进行重组而引发的。

　　The firm's shares have fallen by 60% in the past 12 months, as it has struggled with tumbling profits and high debt.

　　威立雅集团由于利益下滑和重债缠身，去年一年股价下跌了60%。

　　Instead of following the path set out by his former boss, Mr Frerot announced last December that he would take an axe⁵ to Mr Proglio's empire, which spanned 77 countries and 250 varieties of business, and turn Veolia into something resembling a modern, focused company.

　　弗雷罗去年十二月宣称将放弃前任的既定方案，对这家涉及77个国家，250种商业活动的公司进行大刀阔斧的改革，使之成为一家现代化的、有主要项目的公司。

　　He announced a sale of assets worth

1 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

3 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

4 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

5 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。