Bilfinger must pay millions over bribery case

"We are glad to be able to put these events from the distant past behind us," said roland koch, chairman of the board of management and former minister president of the state of hesse, late on monday evening. The group has to pay the equivalent of 23.3 million euros. According to the company, there are sufficient provisions for this.

According to a bilfinger spokesman, the case from 2003 involves a pipeline project in nigeria. Three employees of the group had been involved in bribing a state-owned oil company in the african country.

Bilfinger’s former subsidiary gas and oil services nigeria cooperated on the project with an american company. The USA therefore saw its anti-corruption law violated.

The settlement now agreed provides for the company to continue optimizing its compliance (anti-corruption) system with the help of an independent consultant, in addition to the monetary award. The expert is to be appointed for 18 months.

How bilfinger prevents corruption trap, the group will regularly report to the U.S. Department in the future, the spokesman explained on tuesday. Proceedings against bilfinger suspended for three years. Once the U.S. Requirements are met, it is to be discontinued. Since 2002, bilfinger has been moving away from being a pure construction company towards becoming a service provider. The focus is on the maintenance of industrial plants, power plants and real estate, for example.