Bombardier employee in Sweden charged with aggravated bribery
by The Associated Press
Swedish officials say Russian employee Evgeny Pavlov bribed a public servant in Azerbaijan to win a contract for a new signalling system with a contract value of around $340 million
COPENHAGEN—A Russian employee in the Swedish branch of Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier has been charged with aggravated bribery and faces up to six years in jail and deportation if found guilty.
Swedish prosecutor Thomas Forsberg says Evgeny Pavlov bribed a public servant in Azerbaijan to win a contract for a new signalling system with a contract value of around $340 million.
Pavlov faces up to six years in jail and deportation if found guilty.
Pavlov, a Bombardier Transportation Sweden AB employee, was held in March in pre-trial custody to prevent him from fleeing or tampering with evidence. Emails seized during a search of Bombardier’s offices in Sweden in October 2016 are considered evidence in the case.
Forsberg told The Associated Press that the Azerbaijani officials received rewards for having favoured the Bombardier contract. He added more employees with the Swedish branch of Bombardier were still being investigated in relation to the same case.
In 2013, Bombardier was part of a consortium awarded a US$288 million contract to supply signalling equipment for a 503-kilometre rail corridor connecting Asia and Europe to Azerbaijan Railways. Bombardier then said it was its “first major signalling contract in Azerbaijan.”
Pavlov’s lawyer, Cristina Berger, has previously said that her client says he is innocent.
A trial date has not been set yet.
