Partially-state owned fertilizer company Yara has admitted guilt and accepted a record fine of 259 million NOK for corruption in Libya , Russia and India. The company has been under investigation by the Economic Crime Division since 2011. Four former and current CEOs of the company are accused of complicity in corruption.
The discussion on the company and corruption last week negatively affected Norway’s image on corruption. Yara case shows that the Norwegian authorities do little to prevent corruption in the government’s own companies, wrote Norwegian daily Klassekampen.
Talking to the newspaper, secretary General of Transparency International’s Norwegian department, Guro Slettemark said that the U.S. and UK deals with corrupt companies more seriously than Norway.
Reminding Transparency International reports, Slettemark suggested that Norway is far from best in fight with corruption behind some developed countries.
– Britain and especially the United States has a much more aggressive policy to follow companies convicted of corruption. Companies are closely monitored by the authorities, and must prove that they comply with anti-corruption programs. says she.
According to last year’s Transparency International corruption index which compares people’s perception of how widespread corruption is in every country, Norway was in the fifth place.
Norwegian government holds about 36 per cent stake of Yara International ASA. OKOKRIM has indicted four people in Yara International ASA’s former senior management of gross corruption. The conditions for the use of bribery against a minister in Libya and a senior public servant in India yesterday.
Stating that charges concern two cases of gross corruption involving agreements on bribes for more than USD 8 million, OKOKRIM said: “Four people are accused of corruption relationship in Libya, and three of them also for corruption relationship in India.”
In April 2011, Yara International appointed the law firm Wiersholm to conduct an external investigation in this matter. In June 2012, Yara released the main findings of investigation which said that “an unacceptable payment of USD 1 million in 2007 to a consultant in India is documented.
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