{"id":14010,"date":"2014-09-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-21T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.recommon.org\/ten-questions-eni-opl-245-will-ever-know-answers\/"},"modified":"2014-09-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-09-21T22:00:00","slug":"ten-questions-eni-opl-245-will-ever-know-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.recommon.org\/en\/ten-questions-eni-opl-245-will-ever-know-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten questions for Eni about OPL-245 \u2013 but will we ever know the answers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Simon Taylor (Global Witness) e Antonio Tricarico (Re:Common)\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Last week, Prime Minister Renzi of Italy said that reporting about a major case of alleged corruption should not be allowed to endanger jobs or economic policies. This apparent criticism raises a question as to Prime Minister Renzi\u2019s commitment to Italy\u2019s obligations under the OECD Anti Bribery Convention, which states that a corruption investigation \u201cshall not be influenced by considerations of national economic interest.\u201d On their face value, Mr Renzi\u2019s comments appear inappropriate in the context of the ongoing investigation and the reporting on this scandal. The $1.1bn that Eni and Shell agreed to pay for this oil block should have gone to the Nigerian people, but was instead diverted into private purses.<\/p>\n

Italian prosecutors have named as suspects the incoming CEO Mr Descalzi, along with the outgoing CEO Mr Scaroni, and Mr Casula the current Development, Operations and Technology Officer. Last week, Eni responded both to the public and to its staff about the developments in the investigation into its role in the OPL 245 deal.<\/p>\n

Eni has denied any illegal conduct and said that it is, \u201ccooperating with the Milan prosecutor\u2019s office, and is confident that the correctness of its actions will emerge during the course of the investigation.\u201d Mr Descalzi has also denied any illegal activities by ENI officials. In a letter he reportedly sent to Eni staff, he stated (originally in Italian), \u201cI want you to know with certainty that the purchase of the block OPL 245 was conducted properly and in compliance with all regulations by all those who have worked on it, starting with me.\u201d And \u201cWe acted properly and ethically as we always do.\u201d[i]<\/p>\n

Nigerian anti-corruption activist, Dotun Oloko, Global Witness, and Re:Common have repeatedly questioned Eni over this deal, including at the Eni Annual General Meetings in 2013 and 2014. In 2014 Eni finally provided some answers to some questions, but they have not yet provided full answers about some aspects of this deal. Here are 10 questions to which the Italian and Nigerian public, and the company\u2019s shareholders deserve answers to:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Does Eni accept the ruling by the UK High Court that Chief Etete, the former oil minister who awarded a company called Malabu the OPL 245 oil block in 1998, was at \u201call material times\u201d a beneficial owner of Malabu, the company in possession of the oil block at the time of Eni\u2019s deal?<\/li>\n
  2. Eni said at its 2014 AGM \u201cno clear evidence was found during the preliminary audits conducted by the Eni legal department under the anti-corruption procedures, particularly in relation to his [Etete\u2019s] connection with the company.\u201d But what did Eni know about the role of Chief Etete in Malabu when it signed the deal in 2011?<\/li>\n
  3. Eni has said that it only paid the Nigerian Government for OPL 245. Did Eni, or its officials know that the funds would be paid onwards to Malabu?<\/li>\n
  4. Eni has said this deal was with the Nigerian Government, and yet the Nigerian Attorney General has said that Shell and Eni agreed to pay Malabu through the Government acting as an \u201cobligor\u201d. Similarly a US judge found that the Government of Nigeria acted as a \u201cstraw man\u201d. Does ENI contest the conclusions of the Attorney General and the US judge?<\/li>\n
  5. Eni has stated that the deal was solely with the government and that the presence of Malabu at the crucial five days of negotiation was to address ongoing disputes. What possible role could Malabu have played in such a negotiation process, other than to agree the payment it would receive \u2013 bearing in mind that Malabu was in possession of the OPL 245 block at the time?<\/li>\n
  6. Given Eni\u2019s denial of any involvement in the payment to Malabu, please explain why Eni\u2019s agreement for the block stated that the purpose its $1.1bn payment was for \u201csettling all and any existing claims and\/or issues over Block 245\u201d. Only Shell \u2013 Eni\u2019s partner in the deal \u2013 and Malabu, which had possession of the block at the time, had any potential claim. So who else but Malabu could credibly have been intended to receive these funds?<\/li>\n
  7. There is understandable concern about the reported contact by Eni staff with Mr Luigi Bisignani, a businessman who struck a plea bargain agreeing to 19 months under house arrest for his role in a major Italian commercial and political scandal known in Italy as P4. Eni stated at its AGM this year that Mr Bisignani was not involved in the OPL 245 transaction in any way. Did Mr Bisignani have an interest in the earlier negotiations for the OPL 245 deal?<\/li>\n
  8. According to public evidence from Mr Scaroni, either Mr Descalzi, or Mr Casula spoke on the phone to Mr Bisignani at an important moment during the negotiations for OPL 245. Mr Casula has denied that it was him. Can Eni confirm whether or not it was Mr Descalzi on the phone to Mr Bisignani?<\/li>\n
  9. If it was Mr Descalzi talking to Mr Bisignani, why would they be talking about the OPL 245 deal?<\/li>\n
  10. Given Eni\u2019s apparent unwillingness respond to some of the previous questions can they assure their shareholders that ENI\u2019s legal compliance department has taken the logical step of asking Mr Descalzi whether it was him on the phone with Mr Bisignani?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    CONTACTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Barnaby Pace<\/strong>, Oil Team, Global Witness\u00a0bpace@globalwitness.org<\/a>\u00a0+44 7525 592 738<\/p>\n

    Simon Taylor<\/strong>, Director, Global Witness\u00a0staylor@globalwitness.org<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0+44 7957 142 121<\/p>\n

    Antonio Tricarico<\/strong>, Programme Director, Re: Common\u00a0atricarico@recommon.org<\/a>\u00a0 , +39 328 84 85 448<\/p>\n

    INFOGRAPHIC:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u2018What Nigerians could have done with $1.1bn?\u2019 \u2013 Available here:\u00a0http:\/\/www.globalwitness.org\/shellagm\/<\/a><\/p>\n

    Some of Eni\u2019s previous responses to these and other questions about the OPL 245 deal are available in the written Q&A from ENI\u2019s 2014 Annual General Meeting, available at pages 45-50 athttp:\/\/www.eni.com\/en_IT\/attachments\/governance\/shareholder-meeting\/2014\/Q&A_Eng-2014.pdf<\/a>\u00a0and in the meetings\u2019 minutes.\u00a0http:\/\/www.eni.com\/en_IT\/attachments\/governance\/shareholder-meeting\/2014\/Verbale-Assemblea-8-maggio-2014-inglese.pdf<\/a>\u00a0Pages 61-63 and 104-106 Their recent statement is available athttp:\/\/www.eni.com\/en_IT\/media\/press-releases\/2014\/09\/2014-09-11-bribes_corruption_Nigeria_CEO_Claudio_Descalzi_Eni_denies_illegal_conduct.shtml?home_2010_en_tab=editorial<\/a><\/p>\n

    [i]\u00a0http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.it\/2014\/09\/16\/eni-lettera-claudio-descalzi_n_5829440.html?1410880100<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Last week, Prime Minister Renzi of Italy said that reporting about a major case of alleged corruption should not be allowed to endanger jobs or economic policies. This apparent criticism raises a question as to Prime Minister Renzi\u2019s commitment to Italy\u2019s obligations under the OECD Anti Bribery Convention, which states that a corruption investigation \u201cshall not be influenced by considerations of national economic interest.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1083],"tags":[1115,1116],"class_list":["post-14010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-delta-del-niger-en","tag-eni-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTen questions for Eni about OPL-245 \u2013 but will we ever know the answers? - ReCommon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.recommon.org\/en\/ten-questions-eni-opl-245-will-ever-know-answers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ten questions for Eni about OPL-245 \u2013 but will we ever know the answers? - ReCommon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week, Prime Minister Renzi of Italy said that reporting about a major case of alleged corruption should not be allowed to endanger jobs or economic policies. 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