Kansai Electric Power Co. said Saturday that Executive Vice President Takashi Morimoto replaced Shigeki Iwane as president, effective the same day.

Iwane, 66, has stepped down to take responsibility for a scandal in which Kansai Electric executives received gifts from a former official of a town hosting one of its nuclear power plants.

Morimoto, 64, has served as an executive vice president of the Osaka-based utility since June 2016. He has recently handled human resources, safety management and other affairs.

==Kyodo

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