The company has admitted to bribing Greek officials to win lucrative deals, which contributed to the widespread public sector rot helping push Greece to the brink of insolvency.
But as Greece enacts brutal austerity measures to remain in the eurozone, it is looking for creative ways to help secure jobs – including hammering out a €170 million deal with the company.
The daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Monday that the German firm was willing to sacrifice €80 million out of €150 million owed as reparations for systematically bribing Greek officials over the years.
At the same time, Greece would invest €90 million in new projects with Siemens, such as expanding the metro in Athens.
The head of a parliamentary inquiry originally suggested Siemens pay €2 billion in damages for greasing the palms of Greek officials.
But Lucas Papademos, Greece’s caretaker prime minister, now reportedly favours any action that would help boost employment rather than simply have Siemens pay fines for its past misdeeds.
The Local/mry
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