Bribe charge for ex-bank director
Tuesday 15 January 2013
Printable
EmailRussian officials charged a former European Bank for Reconstruction and Development today with conspiracy to take a £870,000 bribe.
The Interior Ministry said that Yelena Kotova and a Russian banker combined their "powers as well as links in the business community" to negotiate the bribe from a Canadian oil and gas company in exchange for vetting a £60 million loan.
The London-based EBRD was set up at the end of the cold war to push capitalism in eastern Europe.
It sank about €3 billion (£2.5bn) into Russia in 2011 and €21bn (£17.5bn) over the past 20 years.
Ms Kotova was Russia's representative on the EBRD's board between 2005 and 2010, when she was dismissed to let the investigation proceed.
An EBRD spokesman said the bank had been co-operating with Russian authorities and is following the case.
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