Azerbaijan Bought Railway Signaling 5.5 Times More Expensive Than Its Cost

The Russian Eugene Pavlov, a member of the company Bombardier has been taken into custody for two weeks in Sweden. He and other managers of the firm are suspected of corruption in concluding deals in Azerbaijan.

AP reported the Swedish TV SVT, TT Agency, Radio Canada and the Journalistic Center for the Study of Corruption and Organized Crime (OCCRP) have conducted a joint investigation into Bombardier's transactions in Azerbaijan.

 We are talking about the supply of railway signaling to 46 stations. Judging by the documents, the equipment is sent directly to Azerbaijan, and money for it passes through a certain London firm.

As a result, the transaction for the sale of signaling is formalized by two contracts. Under the first contract the equipment is sold for 126 million crowns to the London-based company Multiserv Overseas, which has no office, no phone, and no employees.

Then Multiserv Overseas resells the same equipment to Azerbaijan for $ 104 million. Thus, the final cost of railway signaling on the way from Sweden to Azerbaijan grows 5.5 times.

In Bombardier they claim that the London firm does not just resell, but also provides a number of other services.

According to the Swedish prosecutor's office, Azerbaijani officials received kickbacks from Bombardier for agreeing a deal for the delivery of railway signaling. Law enforcement agencies draw attention to the fact that in 2013, other companies that offered lower prices participated in the tender, but the contract was signed with Bombardier.

In the modernization of the railway section in Azerbaijan, the Russian "daughter" of Bombardier Transportation (36% of which belongs to the Russian state concern RZD) also participated. This company carried out direct work on updating the automation systems, using the equipment of the Swedish unit Bombardier, which appears in the investigation of the Swedish prosecutor's office. -02D-