Page 27 - bne IntelliNews Georgia country report November 2017

Eurasia
November 11, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 27
German office of an unnamed engineering and consulting firm.
The individuals charged were allegedly involved in a scheme to pay kickbacks and disguise those payments to Contoguris' company Gravitas in exchange for help enabling Rolls-Royce to win contracts on equipment and services to power
a pipeline stretching from Central Asia to China, Reuters reported on November 8.
In November 2009, the pipeline project awarded Rolls-Royce a contract for $145mn, and, after re- ceiving the sum, the company made payments to Gravitas, according to the American prosecutors.
Rolls-Royce "has committed to full ongoing co- operation with the Department of Justice and can- not comment on action against individuals,”
a company spokesman said in a statement.
The US Justice Department said it worked closely with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office in the investigation.
Though not mentioned in the department’s allegations, Rolls-Royce also won a $175mn deal in 2013 to supply equipment and related services to power the flow of natural gas through Line
C of Central Asia-China gas pipeline. The 2009 contract possibly involved Rolls-Royce services for lines A and B of the same pipeline.
Line-C connects Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, allowing them to jointly supply gas to China. Once it reaches full capacity, the 1,300km-long pipeline will carry 10bn cm of gas from Turkmenistan, 10bn cm from Uzbekistan and 5bn cm from Kazakhstan. Shipments via Line-C have reached 194.5bn cm metres of gas to date – mostly from Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan has also contributed to these volumes.
Turkmen gas is also exported to China through Line A and Line B. The country delivered 35bn cm to China in 2016, head of state run Turkmengas, Myrat Archayev, said in May.
COUNTRY REPORTS
Check out IntelliNews Pro’s Country Reports covering the 30 countries in Central & Eastern Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States.
A monthly round up of the most important economic, finance, business and political events, the reports are aimed at busy professional investors and companies that need to keep on top of the story.
To subscribe to the reports delivered by email get in touch with our sales staff for a trial.
T. +44 203 633 2008 E. sales@intellinews.com
Or go to bne.eu/welcome to see samples of this and other products.