Eni unit cleared on appeal of Algeria bribery case

• An Italian appeals court on Wednesday cleared Saipem, the exploration arm of Italian energy giant Eni.
• The court also ordered that 197 million euros be seized from Saipem.

MILAN: An Italian appeals court on Wednesday cleared Saipem, the exploration arm of Italian energy giant Eni, and a former boss of using bribery to obtain contracts in Algeria.

The ruling by the Milan appeals court cleared Saipem and Eni, their employees and supposed Algerian intermediaries on all charges concerning payments of 197 million euros ($220 million) to Algerian officials between 2007 and 2010 to win energy contracts.

In a 2018 ruling, Eni and its former CEO Paolo Scaroni were cleared of wrongdoing, but Saipem was fined 400,000 euros and former boss Pietro Tali was handed a jail term of four years and nine months.

The court also ordered that 197 million euros be seized from Saipem.

Prosecutors said the payments were bribes paid to officials at Algerian state energy firm Sonatrach, where several top executives including the president resigned over the scandal.

The funds allegedly allowed Eni to acquire gas exploitation rights at the Menzel field through former Algerian energy minister Chakib Khelil.

Prosecutors had sought to overturn the trial court's clearing of Scaroni, who currently is board chairman of the AC Milan football team.

"I believe we can now definitively use the word 'end' in this complicated story," said Scaroni's lawyer Enrico De Castiglioni.