|
|
| Тема |
 Картичка от Канада |
|
| Автор |
Cиньoтo лъвчe (Аз съм Българче) |
|
| Публикувано | 05.05.04 07:38 |
|
|
|
Police probe nuclear firm after bribery allegations
By MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER
Thursday, April 29, 2004 - Page A1
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. has turned over to police and its internal auditors a letter alleging corruption involving Bulgarian government officials and the marketing of a nuclear plant to the East European country.
A company spokesman said the federally owned nuclear agency received the unsigned letter late last week and gave it to police.
"We obviously take it seriously," AECL spokesman Ian Dovey said yesterday. "We followed our standard operating procedures and we've turned it over to our internal auditor people and to the RCMP," he said.
The Globe and Mail has also received a copy of the letter, which alleges that corrupt Bulgarian government officials want bribes of $40-million (U.S.) to $80-million in return for approving the project.
It stated that some of the money would be funnelled to the officials through overpayments that would be made to local Bulgarian subcontractors chosen to work on the project.
Other payments would be made to agents working on cementing the deal.
The letter, which contained many detailed allegations, said it was written to alert AECL management about possible breaches of Canadian and Bulgarian law.
The AECL is part of an international consortium interested in working on a mothballed Bulgarian nuclear power station worth an estimated $1.6-billion (Canadian) at a site near Belene.
The Bulgarians halted work on the project in 1990 for cash reasons, but the government of Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha wants to restart construction.
Controversy has often swirled around AECL's bidding for nuclear-plant contracts in developing countries, with allegations of kickbacks or excessive fees paid to marketing agents on previous sales in Argentina, China, and South Korea.
Mr. Dovey said the company has engaged in no wrongdoing in Bulgaria.
Paying bribes is a violation of the federal Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, which prohibits such payments by Canadians or Canadian companies.
The letter was also sent to New Democrat MP Joe Comartin, who plans to turn it over to Natural Resources Minister John Efford and Auditor-General Sheila Fraser. "Given the past practices of the industry, it warrants an investigation," Mr. Comartin said.
The Canadian company is considered a long shot for the contract because the Belene plant initially was started using Soviet-style nuclear technology that is different from the Candu design developed by AECL.
Other companies involved in the AECL group include Ansaldo Nucleare, part of an Italian defence and energy company, SNC Lavalin, the big Canadian engineering firm, and Bechtel Corp., a U.S. engineering company, according to Mr. Dovey.
AECL is in the early stages of working on a bid, Mr. Dovey said.
He added that the company was approached by the Bulgarians, who said they were interested in Canada's nuclear technology and asked AECL to become involved. "It's all very, very preliminary right now," he said. "We're pursuing an opportunity there, but we haven't made a bid."
Bulgaria is ranked by Transparency International, a Berlin-based international corruption watchdog, as a country with a high level of graft because of a poorly paid civil service and a lack of strong democratic traditions.
At the Bulgarian Embassy in Ottawa, chargй d'affaires Ivan Danchev said he is unaware of any allegations about the Belene project.
He said his country, "as everywhere else in Europe," has problems with corruption. "This is something that is in the attention of the authorities. Of course, this is on the agenda of the government."
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040429/AECL29/?query=Bulgaria
| |
| |
| 
|
|
