12 July 2013, News Wires – Beleaguered Italian offshore contractor Saipem reportedly faces a €600,000 ($782,000) fine and confiscation of assets worth €24.5 million after being found guilty of international corruption.
The ruling was handed down by an Italian court in a case involving Saipem’s Snamprogetti unit, which was accused of paying bribes to Nigerian officials to win contracts in the period 1994 to 2004, Reuters reported.
Snamprogetti was at the time a wholly owned subsidiary of parent Eni before it was sold to Saipem in 2006 and subsequently merged to become part of the contractor in 2008.
Saipem, which is 43% owned by Eni, has suffered a series of setbacks of late with its jack-up Perro Negro 6 sinking off Angola last week when one of the rig’s legs collapsed.
It followed an earlier profit warning issued by the contractor, which said it now expected to make a net loss of €300 million to €350 million this year instead of a profit of €450 million.
This, it said, was largely due to “a significant deterioration” in its business in Algeria where it could face damages claims from state-owned Sonatrach related to several projects.
– Upstream.