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Chinese firms bidding for gas-to-energy project seek to distance selves from shady past of affiliated companies
Kaieteur News – China Energy International Group Co. Ltd., and the other Chinese companies that submitted bids for the Guyana Integrated Natural Gas Liquids Plant and 300MW Power Plant Project have sought to distance themselves from the shady past of their subsidiaries.
The clarification comes on the heels of a report by Kaieteur News which stated that China Energy Engineering Group (a company that is 62.58%-owned by China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd.) was blacklisted by the World Bank on September 11, 2019. The financial institution had imposed a 20-month debarment of the Chinese state-owned enterprise, known at the time as China Energy Engineering Group Hunan Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd (CEEC-HEPDI).
The World Bank statement said it had provided engineering and construction services, in connection with fraud as part of a Lusaka Transmission and Distribution Rehabilitation Project in the Republic of Zambia. The debarment made CEEC-HEPDI ineligible to participate in World Bank-financed projects. It was part of a settlement agreement under which the company acknowledged responsibility for underlying sanctionable practices and agreed to meet specified corporate compliance conditions as a condition for release from debarment.
The company in a statement was keen to note yesterday that while it is true that its subsidiary was blacklisted, the parent company was not. After the integrity and compliance management system has been established, the company said the ban had been lifted on May 10, 2021.
Regarding allegations of payment of bribery for the University of Zambia project, the company clarified that it received relevant reports from CEEC-HEPDI towards such issue which declares CEEC-HEPDI had never conducted any bribery or fraudulent acts during the bidding and performing process.
As for now, the company said there is no official announcement or binding judicial award that declares any illegal behaviours towards such issue. It also sought to declare that the parent and the subsidiary are two independent companies of two different legal persons under China Energy Engineering Corporation. It added, “The company’s solemnly promises to you that the business activities carried out by the company in Guyana will strictly abide by the laws of Guyana and the commercial regulations of international engineering projects.”
Also responding to the KN article was China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC). It sought to clarify that it is not the same as China Machinery Industry Construction Group, Inc., which was blacklisted by the World Bank for fraudulent practices. It said these are two separate and distinct companies. Importantly, CHEC is the subsidiary of China Machinery Industry Construction Group, Inc. (Sinomach).
Power China Int’l Group also issued a statement yesterday saying that contrary to what was stated in the article, it was not blacklisted by the World Bank. It also said that it has no links to Zhejiang First Hydro & Power Construction Group co., ltd. (1st Hydro) which was listed as being debarred by the financial institution. Kaieteur News also spoke with a representative of the company who said management denies any links to the company mentioned in the article.
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