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Swedish Firm Paying For Eskom "Misconduct"


FILE - Smoke rises from the cooling towers of a coal-fired power plant operated by Eskom in South Africa Taken May 20, 2018.
FILE - Smoke rises from the cooling towers of a coal-fired power plant operated by Eskom in South Africa Taken May 20, 2018.

Swedish-Swiss engineering giant ABB, which helped construct a huge power plant near Johannesburg, will pay reparations to South Africa over "criminal conduct" at the struggling power utility Eskom, prosecutors said Thursday.

"ABB has acknowledged liability and taken responsibility for the alleged criminal conduct of its employees involving contracts with Eskom," the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement.

It said it had finalized a settlement agreement with Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) to pay over more 2.5 billion rand ($144,000) in "punitive reparations" to South Africa.

In 2020, ABB returned 1.6 million rand ($92,000) it received for the construction of the coal-fired Kusile power station, commissioned by Eskom in 2007.

Construction of the plant, the fourth largest coal-fired generator in the world, has been fraught with allegations of graft.

"This settlement represents a bold and innovative step towards accountability... particularly in the form of restitution for the serious crimes committed at Eskom, during the state capture (corruption) period," said the NPA.

In October eight people, including the former CEO of Eskom, Matshela Koko, were arrested on corruption charges linked to a multi-million-dollar contract with the Swedish-Swiss firm.

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