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Business
商業
Veolia's boardroom battle
威立雅集團的董事會斗爭
Plumbing the depths
政界涉商之深
What a row over a water company says about French capitalism
從一家水務公司總經理的連續更替來看法國的資本主義
EVEN by the standards of French business, from which politics is rarely absent, it was an outrageous plan.
即便是按照法國商業的慣例，即鮮有政不涉商的標準來看，威立雅集團的打算也是極其過分的。
This week news emerged of a plot to oust 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，風言威立雅水務集團密謀用前能源部長，政客讓 路易·博洛取代現任總經理安東尼 弗雷羅的消息四起。
Civil servants regularly take the top job at blue-chip French firms.
在法國，公務人員擔任藍籌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.
但是由絲毫沒有商業經驗的博洛似乎絕不可以勝任掌管一家需要深度重組的虧損公司。
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年曾任威立雅集團的總經理一職。
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親自挑選的繼任人弗雷羅，而布格洛到公用事業公司法國電力擔任總經理。
For a year after becoming boss of EDF, Mr Proglio stayed on as Veolia's chairman, collecting two big pay packages.
在布格洛掌管法國電力一年之后，他仍保有威立雅集團的董事長頭銜，同時拿著兩大公司的薪酬。
After a corporate-governance storm, he stepped down as chairman of Veolia in 2010 but kept a seat on its board.
在企業治理風暴之后布格洛才辭掉威立雅集團董事長一職但仍擁有董事席位。
The origin of this week's row is Mr Frerot's plan to restructure Veolia, one of France's largest private-sector employers.
本周傳言的起因是，威立雅集團，這家法國頭號私營公司的主管弗雷羅計劃對公司進行重組而引發的。
The firm's shares have fallen by 60% in the past 12 months, as it has struggled with tumbling profits and high debt.
威立雅集團由于利益下滑和重債纏身，去年一年股價下跌了60%。
Instead of following the path set out by his former boss, Mr Frerot announced last December that he would take an axe to Mr Proglio's empire, which spanned 77 countries and 250 varieties of business, and turn Veolia into something resembling a modern, focused company.
弗雷羅去年十二月宣稱將放棄前任的既定方案，對這家涉及77個國家，250種商業活動的公司進行大刀闊斧的改革，使之成為一家現代化的、有主要項目的公司。
He announced a sale of assets worth
