Washington Closes Investigation Into Saipem’s Activities In Algeria

It appears that the US Justice Department closed the file of the investigation into the activities of Saipem in Algeria and the subsequent trials in both Milan and Algeria, according to an internal document of Saipem, a few weeks after the dispute was settled amicably with the national company Sonatrach.

According to the report of the 2017 financial results of Saipem, which copy is available to Echorouk, since November 29, 2015, the US Justice Department did not renew the request for any extension of the cooperation agreement by Saipem to the US Department regarding its activities in Algeria, which was signed on April,10, 2014 .

According to the same document, the US Justice Department signed with Saipem a deal in 2013 (tolling agreement), which involves the Italian company in full cooperation with the US party even beyond the time limits of the investigation.

The Italian party stated that the company, pursuant to the same agreement, provided all the necessary documents to the US Justice Department and a detailed report on its activities in Algeria, as requested by it.

The report explained that the agreement with the US Justice Department expired on November,29, 2015, and since then, no request was made for extension by the US State Department for Justice.

This means that the US Department of Justice, since almost three years ago, has not renewed the cooperation agreement with Saipem to provide it with the necessary files and documents to achieve its activities in Algeria, which almost certainly means that the investigation was completely closed.

These developments came a few weeks after a friendly settlement of the dispute between the national oil company Sonatrach and the Italian Saipem regarding four projects that were the subject of international arbitration by the Italian party.

The agreement provided for a final closure of the dispute and the payment of the Italian party between $ 150 million and $ 200 million for Sonatrach, and to settle the differences and prepare the Italian company for the next phase of its activities in Algeria.