ENI-Sonatrach Corruption case before Algerian court.

News reports have surfaced saying that the CEO of ENI paid bribes on behalf of ENI’s Algerian subsidiary, Saipem, in order to ensure the company would win oil contracts.

The CEO of ENI Paolo Scaroni met with then-energy minister Chakib Khelil, and his secretary, Farid Bedjaoui. Media reports implicate Bedjaoui in handling $256 million in bribes and kickbacks on behalf of ENI and Saipem.The scandal caused President Abdelaziz Bouteflka to remove Chakib Khelil as Minister of Energy and Mines and a trial in 2011 resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of key Sonatrach figures including Managing Director Mohamed Meziane.
 

“There are fears in the Algerian oil sector that Sonatrach would lose its balance due to this scandal,” an official  told Echorouk.He added that the energy group’s collapse because of the corruption case would harm other government institutions. “The Algerian State stands up on one single foot which is Sonatrach. If it collapses, everything will fall apart like a cardboard pile hit by rains.”

This comes as a large number of foreign executives plan to leave oil and gas sites in southern Algeria following a terrorist attack on the gas complex in In Amenas.According to an oil expert quoted by Echorouk, Sonatrach needs to look for Algerian specialists to replace the foreign employees who left the country. ”