Greece Nears Deal to End Siemens Scandal

ATHENS – After four years in delays and a scandal in which $1.8 billion in bribes was reportedly paid to top government officials to secure lucrative contracts, Greece is reportedly set to receive $269 million in cash and in-kind services with top German engineering firm Siemens, which would allow the opening of seven nearly-completed Metro stations that needed some critical equipment. The newspaper Ta Nea reported that Siemens has sent a contract to Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos for review and that it will be discussed by the Cabinet of interim Prime Minister Lucas Papademos on March 1. Deputy Transport and Infrastructure Minister Yiannis Magriotis said that an outline deal had been reached, the newspaper Kathimerini reported.  “This would clear the path for all the outstanding projects,” he said.
Greece had been in negotiations with Siemens trying to reach an out-of-court settlement over bribes that the firm’s Greek branch, Siemens Hellas, is alleged to have paid to politicians and public officials in order to secure big state contracts. The reports said that Greece will, aside from receiving compensation, also get the equipment for projects that have been delayed after the scandals broke out and contracts were put on hold, including signaling for the extension of the Athens Metro lines, finished in 2008, to the old airport site at Elliniko on the sea, and Haidari in the west. A major station in the western suburb of Peristeri has long been completed, as has a new town hall above it, but neither have opened. The Metro stations were put in limbo because successive governments were not willing to sign the $60 million contract because of the scandal.
Still, the seven stations –  three on Line 3 of the metro system (Peristeri, Anthoupoli and Haidari) and four on Line 2 (Ilioupoli, Alimos, Argyroupoli and Elliniko) – were due to open to the public last summer but may not even be available to commuters this year. Attiko Metro officials said it would take about 15 months to complete the extensions from the day the signaling contract is signed.
The scandal tainted the country and implicated prominent politicians. Last year the Parliament voted to investigate the case, including former Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis and former Interior Minister Christos Markoyiannakis, from the New Democracy party, and PASOK Socialists Tassos Mantelis, a former Deputy Transport Minister, and former Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos, who has been charged in a separate scandal for accepting bribes as part of a deal with a German submarine maker.
Both are pressing the government to give them back pay and bigger pensions and, as is often the case in Greece involving political leaders, no one has been prosecuted, although Tsochatzopoulos has been banned from leaving the country. Some of the charges would not be applicable, however, due to a statute of limitations on the alleged crimes. The former head of Siemens Hellas, Michalis Christoforakos, fled the country.
The Siemens scandal broke in 2008 and involved corruption and bribery charges between successive governments and Siemens, primarily with the purchase of security systems for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The company was charged with using Christoforakos, who fled to Germany after the charges were announced, to funnel money to top politicians.