Panama bars Odebrecht from tenders after bribe allegations

AFP, PANAMA CITY:  Panama’s government on Tuesday said it was barring the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht from future public tenders after the US Justice Depart-ment accused the company of bribes to secure business in Latin America.
In a statement read by the minister of the presidency, Alvaro Aleman, the government said it has decided to “take the steps necessary to prohibit the Odebrecht Group being awarded... any future contract from public bidding processes.”
The contract ban will 
last until Odebrecht demonstrates full cooperation with an investigation by prosecutors, and pays Panama for damages, he added.
Aleman also warned that Panama will take measures to ensure Odebrecht leaves bidding processes for which it had already been cleared. They include a new line of the Panama City metro and a fourth bridge over the Panama Canal.
Panama also will scrap “at no cost to the state” a hydroelectric dam project that would have had the company and government work together, he added.
The announcement came the same day Panamanian prosecutors flew to the United States seeking information about alleged Odebrecht bribes to officials of the Central American country.
The US Justice Department recently reported that Odebrecht had paid bribes worth hundreds of millions of dollars to obtain contracts in nine Latin American countries.
It said the construction company paid more than $59 million in bribes to Panama between 2010 and 2014 to obtain contracts valued at $175 million.

Panama bars Odebrecht from tenders after bribe allegations

AFP, PANAMA CITY: Panamas government on Tuesday said it was barring the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht from future public tenders after the US Justice Depart-ment accused the company of bribes to secure business in Latin America. In a statement read by the minister of the presidency, Alvaro Aleman, the government said it has decided to take the steps necessary to prohibit the Odebrecht Group being awarded... any future contract from public bidding processes. The contract ban will last until Odebrecht demonstrates full cooperation with an investigation by prosecutors, and pays Panama for damages, he added. Aleman also warned that Panama will take measures to ensure Odebrecht leaves bidding processes for which it had already been cleared. They include a new line of the Panama City metro and a fourth bridge over the Panama Canal. Panama also will scrap at no cost to the state a hydroelectric dam project that would have had the company and government work together, he added. The announcement came the same day Panamanian prosecutors flew to the United States seeking information about alleged Odebrecht bribes to officials of the Central American country. The US Justice Department recently reported that Odebrecht had paid bribes worth hundreds of millions of dollars to obtain contracts in nine Latin American countries. It said the construction company paid more than $59 million in bribes to Panama between 2010 and 2014 to obtain contracts valued at $175 million.