Finmeccanica ready to pay penalty to repair ties

[Brickwall]

India may have barred Finmeccanica from future military contracts amid bribery allegations against its subsidiary AgustaWestland in the VVIP chopper deal, but the Italian defence group is nurturing hopes of making a comeback.

The state-controlled firm is prepared to put a new proposal on the table to repair frayed ties with India, which scrapped the Rs. 3,727-crore contract for 12 VVIP choppers in January and imposed a partial ban on Finmeccanica.

The firm would consider a plan that involves paying up a penalty to India to reboot the relationship.

In his first interview to an Indian newspaper, the firm’s new CEO Mauro Moretti told HT, “Everything is on the table, including the possibility of paying a penalty to settle the matter. It doesn’t mean we are guilty. It’s just that we want to end the deadlock and regain the government’s confidence.”

The chance to end this lingering episode in an advantageous way for India is an option the new government may be willing to consider.

Moretti was handpicked by Italian PM Matteo Renzi in May to turn Finmeccanica around.

He said legal proceedings in Italy had exonerated the firm and held it was not criminally liable for the alleged actions of former top executives. AgustaWestland, however, paid around Rs. 3 crore as fine after the firm entered into a settlement with the prosecutors.

Moretti has written to defence minister Arun Jaitley and sought a meeting to discuss the case following the outcome of legal proceedings here. The verdict in the cases against former Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi and former AgustaWestland boss Bruno Spagnolini is expected this week.

The defence ministry’s decision in August not to blacklist Finmeccanica followed the attorney general ‘s advice that a complete ban on the group could affect the military’s combat readiness.

“It is possible to find a solution to avoid discontinuity in our relationship. Limitations on procurement options are not in India’s interest,” said Moretti.

The NDA government appears to be striking a balance between the need to punish defence contractors who may have violated the law and to keep the armed forces battle ready.

Link :Finmeccanica ready to pay penalty to repair ties - Hindustan Times

 

[The Huskar]

And this how we Indians do it.

 

[sancho]

And this how we Indians do it.

I wouldn't go that far, but after using money to get out of the Italian charges against them and now trying to do the same in India, there should be no doubt about bribes in that case anymore. They are trying to get away, with a small punishmeant and in an easy way, that's all.

 

[The Huskar]

I wouldn't go that far, but after using money to get out of the Italian charges against them and now trying to do the same in India, there should be no doubt about bribes in that case anymore. They are trying to get away, with a small punishmeant and in an easy way, that's all.

Atleast we could get the money back.could not say the same for congress though.
Chill mate.Life is all about small victories

 

[janon]

So let me get this straight. They want to bribe us so that we would forgive them for the previous bribery?

"Oh you caught us paying money to officials to swing a contract our way? Sorry about that, and to put it behind us, here's a nice bag of money for you."

 

[sancho]

Atleast we could get the money back.could not say the same for congress though.

Always the same lazy claims from people who want to see only one side.
Former MoD cancelled, froze bank guarantees, current MoD went on with the same procedure and already got the money back:

India encashes over Rs250 cr bank guarantee of AgustaWestland

India Scraps Rs.3,600 crore AgustaWestland Chopper Deal -The New Indian Express

So let me get this straight. They want to bribe us so that we would forgive them for the previous bribery?

"Oh you caught us paying money to officials to swing a contract our way? Sorry about that, and to put it behind us, here's a nice bag of money for you."

Exactly, good going for Indias fight against corruption.

 

[RKO]

bribery to cover another bribery!!!!!

 

[TimeTraveller]

Good choice by finmeccanica...They should learn from this incident and next time should not use any unfare means to setup a deal...

 

[Trawllu]

Atleast we could get the money back.could not say the same for congress though.
Chill mate.Life is all about small victories

MMS already got the money back

They simply have to encash the bank guarantees which they have already done

this is a fine over & above that amount

 

[IPL5]

that's the way to go. any company involve in bribery put heavy penalties on them.

 

[anant_s]

Finmeccanica should've read about Bofor's deal. History tells us that once a defence co. gets into a mess, that once AB Bofors and now Finmeccanica finds itself in, its curtains as far as India is concerned, no matter how good ur product is. no matter how desperate the armed forces for that product.
That part said, Indian culprits must be brought to justice quickly, those guys are as much to blame as the company itself.

They are trying to get away, with a small punishmeant and in an easy way, that's all.

that reminds of an old episode of The Blackadder (part 1 Tudor era), when a wealthy landlord on his deathbed, agrees to handover all his land to Church in return of Pardon for all his sins

 

[sancho]

They should learn from this incident and next time should not use any unfare means to setup a deal...

That's the problem, if they succeed with this offer, they won't learn at all, but will do the same thing again next time. If they got caught, they know they only have to pay a small ammount, but if they won't get caught they can get a big deal and that's surely worth the risks. If we allow vendors to go on with bribery, we never will solve our corruption problem There needs to be a midway that includes propper punishment to actually make vendors dare to bribe again, without the carpet bans of course. Banning Agusta Westland for example, if their wrong doing is proven is actually a must have to set a sign, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it must effect all Finmeccanica subsidiaries, which actually wasn't involved in the deal. That would stop AW for a certain time to directly sell helicopters to India, but won't stop Finmeccanica to sell Torpedos, vessels or what else they have on offer.
However, giving foreign vendors as well as Indian forces and officials a free pass to continue corruption, can't be the right way!

 

[TimeTraveller]

That's the problem, if they succeed with this offer, they won't learn at all, but will do the same thing again next time. If they got caught, they know they only have to pay a small ammount, but if they won't get caught they can get a big deal and that's surely worth the risks. If we allow vendors to go on with bribery, we never will solve our corruption problem There needs to be a midway that includes propper punishment to actually make vendors dare to bribe again, without the carpet bans of course. Banning Agusta Westland for example, if their wrong doing is proven is actually a must have to set a sign, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it must effect all Finmeccanica subsidiaries, which actually wasn't involved in the deal. That would stop AW for a certain time to directly sell helicopters to India, but won't stop Finmeccanica to sell Torpedos, vessels or what else they have on offer.
However, giving foreign vendors as well as Indian forces and officials a free pass to continue corruption, can't be the right way!

You explained very clearly...Thanks....