Port of Sabetta bribery case: Court of Appeal acquits DEME

DEME Group has been acquitted in the long-running bribery case surrounding the dredging operations at the Port of Sabetta, Russia. This was decided by the Ghent Court of Appeal today.

The public prosecutor had sought a forfeiture of 12.6M and a fine of EUR600.000, but the Court cleared DEME and five of its former executives, citing insufficient evidence.

The case centered on a 420M contract for dredging works at Sabetta.

In 2013, both DEME and Jan De Nul applied for the works after the Russian Ministry of Transport outsourced the tender to USK Most.

DEME secured the contract through its Russian joint venture Mordraga – Jan De Nul did not.

Suspicious of a conflict of interest involving an intermediary, Jan De Nul filed a criminal complaint in 2016 with the East Flanders public prosecutor.

Without clarity on whether any alleged acts were carried out without the knowledge or consent of its board or shareholders, the offence could not be established.