The French energy and transport conglomerate Alstom is one of the seven finalists for the People’s Public Eye Awards 2013.

The nomination is a result of information submitted by NGOs Focus Slovenia, SHERPA France and CEE Bankwatch Network, in which dubious business practices of the company across the world are highlighted — often linked to proven corruption or corruption allegations surrounding the awarding of contracts.

At Sostanj, in Slovenia, despite the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and a national Slovenian anti-corruption agency finding reasons for suspecting that corruption acts were committed in the awarding of the contract to Alstom, two European public banks, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, are about to pour almost half a billion euros into an ill-fated new lignite plant.

In other places around the world, where Alstom has been proven to have acted in a corrupted manner, the company has received fines and even seen its subsidiaries debarred by the World Bank. This has not necessarily led to an improvement of the practices of the company.

“We want this nomination to work as a wake up call for Alstom, to show the company that the world is watching and it cannot continue to conduct shady business in order to get contracts around the world,” says CEE Bankwatch Network’s Pippa Gallop. “We also hope that the two European public banks that want to finance the Sostanj project to be constructed by Alstom will finally face the reality that paying money for this dubious project would risk public money and put a serious blemish on their reputation.”

See the Alstom nomination for the Public Eye Awards (including a clip):
http://www.publiceye.ch/en/vote/alstom/

READ AN ASSESSMENT OF ALSTOM’S BUSINESS PRACTICES AS DESCRIBED IN OUR NOMINATION COMPILED BY THE INSTITUTE FOR BUSINESS ETHICS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND: https://bankwatch.org/sites/default/files/publiceye-alstom-assessment-Jan2013.pdf

Read more about the Public Eye Awards:
http://publiceye.ch

Read more about corruption scandals marring Alstom’s reputation:
https://bankwatch.org/news-media/blog/spot-difference-alstom-indonesia-and-slovenia

Read more about the EIB and EBRD funded Sostanj project:
https://bankwatch.org/our-work/projects/sostanj-lignite-thermal-power-plant-unit-6-slovenia

For more information, contact:

Pippa Gallop
CEE Bankwatch Network Research Coordinator
pippa.gallop at bankwatch.org
Tel.: 00385997559787