Brazil: Leniency for builder in nuclear plant corruption case

Brazil’s competition regulators have reached a leniency agreement with construction company Camargo Correa. The company has agreed to hand over evidence concerning a price-fixing ring affecting the tender process for building the Angara 3 nuclear plant.

The case forms part of a wider investigation, known as “Operation Car Wash”, which has spread from its original focus on state oil company Petrobras, reaching the electricity sector last week with the arrest of several high officials in Eletronuclear, a branch of Brazil’s state-owned Eletrobras electricity company charged with managing nuclear power generation. Construction tycoon Andrade Gutierrez, who faces charges of paying bribes to win contracts at Angara 3, was also arrested during the sweep.

State prosecutors in Parana state, where the corruption probe is being carried out, said the agreement will let Camargo Correa off the hook for fixing the prices of contracts with Petrobras in return for information on an alleged cartel set up to win the nuclear plant contract in 2013.

Source: CNBC

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.