ZURICH, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Managers of Russia's state-controlled natural gas
exporter Gazprom may face corruption charges in Switzerland, the Swiss federal
prosecutor's office said, confirming a Swiss media report.
Swiss
newspaper Tages-Anzeiger said on Monday two Gazprom managers – one of
them still working, the other retired – and two other individuals
may face charges related to alleged bribes paid between 2004 and 2006 in
connection with the construction of the Yamal gas pipeline that connects
Siberia to Germany.
"The
federal prosecutor is conducting an investigation against four individuals
suspected of misappropriation, forgery of documents, money laundering and
bribery of foreign government officials," the prosecutor's office said in
an emailed statement on Monday night in response to an enquiry about Gazprom.
"Last
preparations for bringing charges are under way," the office said.
Gazprom
did not immediately reply to a written request for a comment.
Last
November, the Swiss federal prosecutor's office closed an investigation into
Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery (SIT), a subsidiary of Germany's Siemens,
after SIT admitted inadequate enforcement of compliance regulations in relation
to Yamal gas pipeline projects and paid 125,000 Swiss francs ($135,751) in
reparation as well as $10.6 million in compensation to the Swiss state for
unlawfully obtained profits.
The
prosecutor's office said in a press release at the time that bribes had been
paid by SIT to senior executives of "Russia's largest natural gas
production company" between 2004 and 2006 via Swiss bank accounts in
relation to contracts awarded to SIT for the supply of gas turbines during the
construction of the pipeline.