PARAGUAY: Bid for State Telephone Contract Sparks Scandal
ASUNCION, Nov 16 (IPS) - An accusation published in the Paraguayan press of an attempt to bribe employees of the state-run telecommunications companyAntelcofor a contract to install 400 public telephones sparked a scandal in political and business circles.
The attempt by the Paraguayan firm Emparcom, representing the French Schlumberger company, to distribute over 100,000 dollars in illegal commissions among senior Antelco employees and government figures was uncovered and published in detail by the press.
Emparcom won the bidding for the 540,000 dollar contract in March, but Schlumberger later decided to withdraw its representation from the company, accusing the Paraguayan firm of "over-inflating" the contract's price.
In a letter published by the press, the French firm accused Emparcom of violating "business ethics."
As the contract was signed immediately after the bidding and the denunciation by the French company was announced only recently, press accounts speculated that the bribes have already been paid, despite opposition by the president of the Antelco council, Miguel Horacio Gini.
Some of Antelco's directors openly supported Emparcom's bid, but Gini's opposition and the publicity surrounding the case led to the cancelling of the contract, which was once again opened to the bidding process.
It is received wisdom among the Paraguayan population that bribery is the rule-of-thumb when it comes to bids involving state- run companies.
In order to win the new bidding, Emparcom and another firm - Monetel-Nordic - offered Antelco 1,000 additional telephones as a bonus, but Gini firmly rejected the "gift."
© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service