$ 200 million to bribe Sonatrach officials

Sources close to the investigation on the Italian company “Saipem” and corruption issues in its projects in Algeria, revealed that Italian officials paid bribes and kickbacks to officials in Sonatrach worth $ 200 million in 2007, to win the draft tube gas GK3, as the Director Mohamed Meziane and one of his sons, is likely to be one of them, as the percentage of bribes reached 35% of the value of the project, which is a special case in the history of corruption in Algeria.

Sources close to the investigating judges at the prosecutor at the Court of Milan, and who assigned to investigate with officials of “Saipem”, namely Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro, said that the

company’s officials have paid kickbacks and bribes to officials in Sonatrach, without citing their names, but same sources added that the matter is about an important mediator in the company Sonatrach, who is the same mediator with the company in order to sign a contract of Galsi pipeline project, asserting that this person is likely to be the son of the former director of Sonatrach, Mohamed Meziane.

Same source confirmed that the commissions which were paid by “Saipem” to officials in Sonatrach, including this important mediator, without notifying the leaders of the company nor the leaders of the company, represented by the company “ENI”, which has the majority of “Saipem” shares, noting that bribes were related to two contracts in GK3 gas pipeline project between Batna, Skikda and El Kala (eastern Algeria), as the proportion of bribes represented more than 35% of the total value of the project.

The same sources reported that the investigating judges with the Attorney-General of the Court of Milan, complain that the value of these huge bribes were granted to win the deal and get the facilities and administrative permits to proceed in the works of the gas pipeline GK3, which total value is $ 580 million.

Investigations by the Italian justice, against the backdrop of Sonatrach scandals, exposed both “Saipam” CEO, Pietro Franco Tali, and the director of finance at the company “ENI” Alessandro Bernini, who served as Executive Director of the Company “Saipem”, during the period in which these abuses took place, and the arrest of the chief officer for operating the business unit of engineering and construction, Pietro Faroni, at a time “Saipem” shares tumbled immediately after the resignation of its Executive Director, by 7% in the financial dealings in Milan Stock Exchange “Mibtel”.