World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC [PHOTO: Shiny Things/CC BY 2.0] |
Washington: The World Bank Group has announced the debarment of
Energoprojekt Niskogradnja, a Serbian civil engineering and contracting company
- for a period of 2.5 years following the company’s acknowledgment of
misconduct in a Bank-financed roads and development project in Uganda.
The 2.5 years debarment is part of a Negotiated Resolution
Agreement between Energoprojekt and the World Bank Group following an
investigation by the World Bank Integrity Vice Presidency.
“This case is just another example of why fighting
corruption matters for the World Bank as well as for companies that are engaged
in development projects,” said Leonard McCarthy, World Bank Integrity Vice
President. “Clean business is smart
business. We will pursue our efforts to
maximize the value of infrastructure development,” he said.
Under the agreement, Energoprojekt Niskogradnja commits to
cooperate with the World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency and continue to
improve their internal compliance program.
This debarment qualifies for cross-debarment by other MDBs
under the Agreement of Mutual Recognition of Debarments that was signed on
April 9, 2010.
The World Bank Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) is
responsible for preventing, deterring and investigating allegations of fraud,
collusion and corruption in World Bank projects, capitalizing on the experience
of a multilingual and highly specialized team of investigators and forensic
accountants.