Report: Russia’s VimpelCom owner to pay $795 mln to close Uzbek case

MOSCOW, Feb 19 (PRIME) -- Amsterdam-based VimpelCom Ltd., the sole owner of Russian mobile operator VimpelCom, will pay U.S. $795 million to settle U.S. and Dutch claims that it bribed officials in Uzbekistan to win business, Bloomberg reported late Thursday.

The settlement is part of a wider, years-long, corruption investigation by U.S., Dutch, Swedish and Swiss authorities into claims that companies paid bribes in exchange for business and investment opportunities in the central Asian country.

Some of the allegations focused on a company linked to Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, according to court documents and people familiar with the matter.

VimpelCom Ltd., which is partly owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman and Norway’s Telenor, agreed to plead guilty to violating U.S. corruption laws at a hearing in New York federal court Thursday. The charges will be dropped in three years if VimpelCom Ltd. abides by terms of an agreement with the U.S., according to prosecutor Nicola Mrazek.

VimpelCom Ltd. and its subsidiary Unitel paid more than $114 million in bribes from 2006 to 2012 to a high-ranking foreign official to gain access to the Uzbek market, Mrazek told the judge.

VimpelCom Ltd.’s settlement removes risks for Telenor, which plans to divest its 33% in the carrier, said Alexander Vengranovich, an analyst at Otkritie Capital in Moscow. “Now, once the uncertainty is gone, it will become easier for Telenor to discuss sale terms with potential buyers.”

The $795 million penalty is the second-largest levied for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bans bribing officials to win business. The largest, $800 million, was paid by Siemens, which pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-corruption laws in 2008.

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