Munich - Making up for its past misdeeds, Siemens is to help
pay for anti-corruption campaigns by the United Nations and other
bodies, the German electronics group said Thursday in Munich.
The company will provide up to 5 million euros (7 million dollars)
annually for 15 years to help prevent corruption.
Siemens, which has admitted that for years its executives bribed
their way to contracts for telephone exchanges and other multi-
million-dollar projects, said the undertaking was made to the World
Bank in Washington.
Under a settlement with the World Bank to mark a clean start, the
German company also agreed to be excluded from tendering for all
World Bank-funded projects from the start of this year until the end
of 2010.
Peter Solmssen, a Siemens executive, said the accord was a fresh
reminder of the failures of Siemens management in the past. A
repentant Siemens has admitted corruptly spending 1.3 billion euros
before it mended its ways.
In the past, Siemens' sales for World Bank-financed projects have
averaged 100 million euros annually. The company makes everything
from power turbines to tramcars.
This settlement provides significant consequences for past
wrongdoing by Siemens,' said Leonard McCarthy, a vice president at
the World Bank. He said the company's penalty also help 'hold more
corrupt firms and individuals accountable' for corruption.
In Munich, sources said the opt-out would not necessarily reduce
Siemens sales radically, as the group could still sell equipment to
projects as a subcontractor. It could also supply equipment to
projects paid for by other international development banks, the
sources said.
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