Yara Chairman let notification on corruption in the drawer – Aftenposten

Yara Chairman let notification on corruption in the drawer – Aftenposten

– We both agreed that there should not go out five flat ear, said former chairman of Yara, Øivind Lund, when he testified in corruption case against four former Yara tops in Oslo District Court on Thursday.

The four are accused of having paid bribes to a minister’s son in Libya in connection with the establishment of a fertilizer plant in the country, and Lund sat as Chairman of period corruption to have taken place.

Should not be paid anything

Lund was informed by former CEO Jørgen Ole Haslestad that it should have come a payment from Libya shortly after Haslestad joined in 2008. In court Lund was unaware that the contents of the warning was vague – he did not know how big the demand was, who it came from, though it was gone any payment previously or who notified. It was at all uncertain whether it really had come any claim – or whether it was only a rumor, Lund said.

– We sat thus every effort into ensuring that it was not paid anything and counting on it that we had solved the problem. Such was the logic, Lund said.

Zero tolerance?

The company was at that time in final negotiations with the national oil company in Libya on establishment of a fertilizer plant, and Lund figured that if it was something in the claim, it would come to the surface when one approached the run if the company did not pay. Some such effect that they never will.

According to Lund he asked no questions to find out more about the vague requirement.

– You have said that the company had zero tolerance for corruption. Do you think your dealing of this testifies zero tolerance ?, would lay judges know.

– I realize that you ask the question. The signal is supposed to come from the top here. But I do not think it downwards in the company was no doubt that there was zero tolerance that applied, Lund said.

– I would have thought that zero tolerance would entail that one proceeded with such information?

– Yes, but we did not.

– Frustrated

He said he chose not to inform the board about the matter because he would avoid creating unrest against an issue that may not was something. Nearly three years later elected board and management in Yara to start their own investigations and go to the police with the case. When did it according to Lund come up information about the case from several quarters.

Lund was also quizzed about how the Board of Yara worked after former longstanding director of Yara, Ms. Schrøder, went hard onto Yara management will and said the relationship between board and management of the company was “unhealthy”. Schroder described cooperation between the Board and Enger as highly of conflicts, and said she voted against the project in Libya.

– I was very surprised what she said. That such a speech led man like her, have not said from, if she was so frustrated, as she says, I think that’s surprising, Lund said in court.

He pointed out that he could not remember that Fønss Schroder had taken dissent on the board, and that such a thing nor was recorded in the minutes in the control briefs. Nor could he remember that the relationship between Schroder and beds were especially of conflicts.

Published: 26.feb. 2015 1:10 p.m.