Siemens Managers Admit Bribing Russian Officials. Representatives of German electronics and engineering group Siemens arrested in a bribe scandal have confessed to bribing Russian telecoms companies and

The Moscow Times

Representatives of German electronics and engineering group Siemens arrested in a bribe scandal have confessed to bribing Russian telecoms companies and authorities to win lucrative contracts, Vedomosti reported Monday, citing German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

One of the two former executives questioned by prosecutors last week said he was personally involved in paying Russians for services disguised as consulting fees. The sums were bribes meant to ease winning orders, Vedomosti said.

The other suspect, who was for many years in charge of sales in the CIS, also gave “exhaustive evidence” to prosecutors, the newspaper said.

According to the suspects, Siemens spent close to 10 million euros ($13.4 million) per year on bribes and kickbacks in the CIS, adding that most of the money went to greasing the palms of officials and even members of the intelligence services.

Siemens’ Munich office confirmed that two current and former managers of the company had been arrested as part of the ongoing investigation, Vedomosti reported.

Employees at Siemens office in Moscow declined to comment Monday.

The German investigation started in November last year, when prosecutors raided the offices and homes of a number of Siemens employees amid suspicions of creating slush funds used in bribing to obtain contracts abroad. Siemens reported revenues of more than 1.6 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in Russia last year.

Task 1. Read the articles and answer the following questions.

1. Who was arrested in a bribe scandal?

2. What have they confessed?

3. How were bribes disguised?

4. How much money did the company spend on bribes in the CIS?

5. Who was the money usually paid to?

6. Where did the investigation start?

Task 2. Find the expressions in the article that mean:

a) to admit that you have done something wrong

b) money or gift illegally given to someone to persuade them to do something for you

c) to change something so that people cannot recognize it

d) an amount of money paid to a professional for the work done

e) to make a process go on smoothly

f) money paid secretly and dishonestly in return for someone’s help

g) to give someone money in a secret or dishonest way in order to persuade them to do something

h) a special fund kept for dishonest purposes

Task 3. Match 1-8 to a)-h) to form partnerships from the article.

1. bribe a) executives

2. lucrative b) evidence

3. former c) manager

4. consulting d) investigation

5. exhaustive e) fund

6. current f) scandal

7. ongoing g) fees

8) slush h) contracts

Task 4. Match each verb 1-6 to the expressions a) – f) from the article.

1. to confess a) winning orders

2. to win b) close to $13.4 million per year on bribes and kickbacks in the CIS

3. to ease c) to bribing Russian telecoms companies and authorities

4. to spend d) the offices and homes of Siemens employees

5. to raid e) lucrative contracts

6. to create f) slush funds

Task 5. Comment on the situation.