Yara paid $1 mn bribe to India’s Kribhco?

The Norwegian economic crime authority has launched an investigation against fertilizer company Yara International ASA for suspected corruption relating to a project in India.

A suspected USD one million bribe payment in relation to a proposed joint venture of Norway’s Yara International with Indian fertiliser co-operative Kribhco is being probed by the European country’s economic crime authority.

The JV was proposed way back in 2007,but did not materialise and the payment in question was made to a third-party consultant,believed to be an Indian,a Yara official said.

In a statement from Oslo,Yara said that the information for suspected corruption in India was brought forward by a company employee.

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“The information relates to a project in India during the period 2006-07. The project aimed to establish a joint venture for the production and sale of fertiliser,but was not realised. An initial investigation has uncovered a payment of USD 1 million to a third party,” the statement added.

When contacted,the company spokesperson said that the investigation relates to its joint venture with India’s fertiliser co-operative firm Kribhco,which was announced in April 2007,to produce and market mineral fertiliser.

“The investigation relates to Kribhco. The Kribhco project was abandoned after a commercial review,and we found out that we had other projects we would rather pursuit,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that the payment was made to a consultant.

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“The payment is made to a consultant and we believe he is Indian,” the spokesperson said,but stressed that “we do not know for a fact that this is a corruption”.

“The investigation will find out if the payment of USD 1 million can be justified by the services the consultant had offered,but we are today questioning the value of this consultant agreement,” the spokesperson added.

Besides Kribhco,Yara had also proposed a joint venture with another Indian firm Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation in 2008. However,this JV also did not fructify.

The spokesperson clarified that the joint venture project under investigation was not the one with Deepak Fertilisers,adding that “as the world’s leading fertilisers company,we can at one time have several options we evaluate,but only move forward with a few.”

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“Regarding Deepak,it is my understanding that we could not reach a final agreement with our partner,” the official said.

About the ongoing probe,Yara International’s President and CEO Joergen Ole Haslestad said: “Regardless of what (crime authority) conclude,these charges are very serious for Yara.

We are co-operating… and await the results of the investigation.” Yara International President and CEO Joergen Ole Haslestad said.

“I am satisfied that the investigation we have initiated has brought this matter to the surface,but disappointed that the information did not come at an earlier stage if it emerges that Yara has committed an offence,” Haslestad said.