Construction equipment supplier agrees to pay out-of-court settlement over Crimean bridge prosecution

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (PPS) was probing the sale of pile-driving machines and used for the construction of the Kerch Strait bridge. It alleged that by delivering the machines in 2015-16 and providing technical assistance, Dieseko had acted in violation of international trade sanctions put in place following Russia’s annexation of Crimea which began in February 2014.

Dieseko’s settlement consists of a €180,000 (US$196,125) fine and a payment of €1.6 million (US$1.7 million) as confiscation of unlawfully obtained gains.

The company said in a statement that it had implemented “remedial and compliance measures” to prevent any recurrence of criminal offences.

Among the measures it has introduced are:

• A code of conduct for employees;
• A policy on screening of customers and third parties;
• A policy on sanctions and export control;
• A whistleblowing policy;
• Monitoring of applicable rules to ensure compliance with national, European, and other international regulations; and
• Periodic evaluation and update of all the above points.

Raymonde Wagemaker, CEO of Dieseko, said, “At Dieseko, we provide our machines and technical support to customers worldwide in a truthful manner in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and with sharp moral awareness. Unfortunately, this was not the case in the past in relation to this project. We regret this situation and strongly disapprove of it. We offer our sincere apologies in this respect.”

“At Dieseko, we stand for fair and responsible business practices. This is one of the guiding pillars in our strategic plan going forward: ‘Founding the Future’. In this plan, we, as Dieseko, define and promise to assume our responsibility in relation to our policies and day-to-day operations. Transparent and in accordance with applicable rules and regulations. At Dieseko, there is absolutely no room for cases like these. To prevent any recurrence, we have therefore taken appropriate and comprehensive measures. With this, we close this case and look to the future with full confidence.”