- Title: Kuczynski says Odebrecht must sell off remaining projects and leave Peru
- Date: 24th January 2017
- Summary: LIMA, PERU (JANUARY 24, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF ODEBRECHT OFFICES IN PERU PRESIDENT OF ODEBRECHT LATINVEST, MAURICIO CRUZ, DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF ODEBRECHT LATINVEST, MAURICIO CRUZ, SAYING: "It is fundamental to the fight against corruption and fundamental for other companies to benefit from the process of collaboration, it is fundamental for survival." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF ODEBRECHT LATINVEST, MAURICIO CRUZ, SAYING: "Our concern is that we have undertaken a process of collaboration that is already practised in other countries and that is that basis on which the company can collaborate with the state, to keep up its obligations so as to serve as an example and be a company that has regenerated to work with the state to the highest standards that we demand. But 15 days after the company has started to collaborate, there is a joint effort from all parties for the company to disappear. That is not a signal that we are fighting against corruption." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF ODEBRECHT LATINVEST, MAURICIO CRUZ, SAYING: "It is very important that people understand that this is a company that is over 70 years old, that when this process began there were nearly 200,000 employees and not all of them were involved in corruption." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF ODEBRECHT LATINVEST, MAURICIO CRUZ, SAYING: "This is the change from which hopefully people understand a penalty has been paid and the company has regenerated itself. This is the change that we hope exists in people, especially those who are completely correct, who are mortified by what has happened."
- Embargoed: 7th February 2017 23:01
- Keywords: Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Mauricio Cruz Odebrecht Latinvest
- Location: LIMA, PERU
- City: LIMA, PERU
- Country: Peru
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00260FZZ9F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A top Latin America executive of Brazil's Odebrecht SA has pushed back against calls from Peru's President to bar the company from countries where it has admitted to bribery across the region, warning "radical" reactions would jeopardise its ability to pay penalties.
Odebrecht is "struggling to survive" in the wake of a growing graft scandal in Latin America. Since acknowledging that it doled out hundreds of millions in bribes to win public work contracts in Latin America, countries from Panama to Peru have cancelled key projects and barred the company from bidding on public works in the future.
In an interview on Tuesday (January 24) Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczysnki called for the company to sell its projects in the country and get out.
"Regarding Odebrecht, they need to sell their projects. There are various good projects regarding electricity, highways etc. Unfortunately, there is this stain of corruption so they need to go, it's finished and they will have to reach an agreement with the prosecutor," he said.
But Mauricio Cruz, the new president of Odebrecht's investment arm in Latin America, Odebrecht Latinvest, said in an interview on Tuesday (January 24) that the company is trying to make amends.
"It is fundamental to the fight against corruption and fundamental for other companies to benefit from the process of collaboration, it is fundamental for survival," he said.
Cruz told Reuters that the company is now seeking to work to the highest standards, rejecting moves to remove the country from Peru.
"Our concern is that we have undertaken a process of collaboration that is already practised in other countries and that is that basis on which the company can collaborate with the state, to keep up its obligations so as to serve as an example and be a company that has regenerated to work with the state to the highest standards that we demand. But 15 days after the company has started to collaborate, there is a joint effort from all parties for the company to disappear. That is not a signal that we are fighting against corruption," he said.
Some in Peru have called for authorities to seize Odebrecht's assets and arrest employees, as was done in neighbouring Brazil.
But defending the company, Cruz said that with nearly 200,000 employees in Odebrecht that many of them were not involved in corruption.
"It is very important that people understand that this is a company that is over 70 years old, that when this process began there were nearly 200,000 employees and not all of them were involved in corruption," he said.
Cruz told Reuters that the company has paid a penalty for its actions.
"This is the change from which hopefully people understand a penalty has been paid and the company has regenerated itself. This is the change that we hope exists in people, especially those who are completely correct, who are mortified by what has happened," added Cruz.
It was unclear what Kuczynski's government might do to force the company to leave.
Odebrecht has received more than five offers to buy its Chaglla hydroelectric project in northern Peru since putting it up for sale months ago, but the company wants to keep its other projects in the Andean country, according to Cruz.
Odebrecht has said it is trying to sell 12 billion reais ($3.3 billion dollars) in assets globally.
The family-run company was once one of the region's biggest builders, but has since come to symbolise the kind of white collar corruption that many Latin Americans say is met with impunity. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
