France's top public auditor slammed the management of state-controlled nuclear group Areva in a confidential report in which it called for more state oversight, Les Echos daily wrote, reports Reuters.
The preliminary report criticises a lack of oversight of multi-billion euro projects, the remuneration of the supervisory board members and what it calls the "excessive" package former Chief Executive Officer Anne Lauvergeon received when she left the company.
A spokesman for Areva declined to comment while Lauvergeon could not immediately be reached.
According to Les Echos, the auditors, who focus on the years 2006-2012, wrote that the absence of a traditional board of directors at the top of the company meant the state did not have enough say in projects such as a much-delayed and costly reactor project in Finland.
Areva's 2013 net loss widened to 494 million euros from 99 million euros in 2012 due to provisions on the reactor project in Finland and losses in its renewable energy business.
The auditor's report also pointed at "individual faults or failings, at least in terms of oversight" in Areva's $2.5 billion acquisition of Canadian uranium mining company UraMin in 2007. France's financial prosecutor has opened a preliminary investigation in the case, sources said last month.
Read more of this report from Reuters.
Read Mediapart's coverage of Areva's takeover of UraMin here.