Former Swedish deputy prime-minister Bengt Westerberg quit as
chairman of the Swedish board of PR agency Geelmuyden Kiese last
week.
Westerberg was criticised last month by rival agencies for a perceived
conflict of interest. He was, and continues to be, chairman of
state-owned Swedish telecom company Telia. As chairman of GK in Sweden,
he represented one of Telia’s main competitors, Norwegian equivalent
Telenor.
GK founder Hans Geelmuyden said Westerberg’s decision to quit the agency
was not related to his Telia chairmanship. The agency wants to
co-ordinate its expanding Scandinavian operation by making Geelmuyden
chair of the Swedish and Danish boards.
Geelmuyden said of Westerberg’s perceived conflict of interest: ’It was
our competitors in Sweden who said this was a problem, not our
clients.
We have supported Bengt all along the line and we still do.’
