PARIS (Reuters) – Areva SA will pay the Public Treasury a fine of 4.8 million euros for corruption linked to its mining activities in Mongolia between 2013 and 2017, in accordance with a judicial agreement of public interest (CJIP ) concluded with the former French nuclear specialist, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) announced on Monday.

Orano Mining, the mining subsidiary of the French nuclear fuel specialist Orano – itself resulting from the dismantling of the former Areva – has also agreed to submit for three years to audits and verifications by the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA) in as part of a compliance program which will be financed by the company to the tune of 1.5 million euros maximum.

According to information provided by the PNF, the former Areva had signed a contract for a total of 4 million euros with the economic intelligence company Eurotradia International for a legal, financial and commercial assistance mission in Mongolia.

This in turn signed a consulting contract with a Mongolian businessman, receiving payments of 1.275 million euros.

The latter finally invested in a real estate project controlled by a “high-level” public official and paid a second high-ranking official, both of whom were involved in the establishment of Areva activities in Mongolia, according to the president of the court. .

The approval this Monday of the CJIP by the president of the Paris Judicial Court “comes at the end of several years of cooperation” of Orano with the judicial authorities, the group underlined in a press release.

The agreement “resolves a procedure initiated before its creation and which concerned the activities of the former Areva group, without recognizing its responsibility”, adds Orano, who also welcomes the “strengthening of its compliance system put in place since its creation “.

The CJIP, applicable to legal entities implicated for acts of corruption and influence peddling, tax fraud or even money laundering, makes it possible to avoid prosecution and close procedures through the payment of public interest fines. to the French State, without conviction.

In Mongolia, Orano holds a 66% stake in the capital of the company Badrakh Energy LLC, which holds mining licenses relating to the Dulaan Uul/Umnut and Zuuvch Ovoo deposits, discovered by the French group.

In October 2023, Orano Mining and the Mongolian state signed a memorandum of understanding to develop and operate the Zuuvch Ovoo uranium mine, the first uranium project in Mongolia to cover all stages of uranium exploitation, from extraction to production, up to the export of a concentrate.

(Reporting Florence Loève and Benjamin Mallet; edited by Sophie Louet)

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