Norwegian Defense Minister Anne-Grete Stroem-Erichsen has announced that German corporation Siemens will not receive any new contracts from the Norwegian armed forces, according to reports Monday.
Norway's confidence in Siemens has gone, Stroem-Erichsen said in a statement.
The announcement came after Siemens was found to have overcharged the military by 36.8 million kroner (6.7 million U.S. dollars) between 2000 and 2004, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported.
The defense ministry said it had also been overcharged an additional 11.8 million kroner (2.2 million U.S. dollars) between 2004 and 2005.
However, current contracts with Siemens will not be cancelled, the NRK added. Siemens Norway has apologized for the overcharging and has refunded the excess charges of about 9.1 million U.S. dollars.
The Norwegian National Authority for Investigation of Economic Crime has alleged that Siemens, along with several other firms, gave gifts and luxury trips to defense personnel in order to obtain orders for goods and equipment from 2000 to 2006.
The economic crime police have imposed a 9 million kroner (1.6 million U.S. dollars) fine on Siemens.
Source:Xinhua
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