Greece is not currently discussing or considering an out-of-court settlement with Siemens for the compensation being sought by Athens for scandals involving kickbacks paid by the multinational company, Greek government spokesman Yiorgos Petalotis said on Tuesday.
"At the moment we are talking about a series of actions that are
already underway and others that have already been decided in order to redress the damage to the Greek state from the Siemens scandal," the spokesman added in response to questions.
already underway and others that have already been decided in order to redress the damage to the Greek state from the Siemens scandal," the spokesman added in response to questions.
Petalotis pointed out that apart from these actions, there were also fines imposed for unfair competition, law suits that had already been filed by organisations in which the Greek state was a shareholder and that had been harmed by the contracts with Siemens. The spokesman also raised an issue of "moral damages" to the Greek state that had to be compensated, describing this as a "very complex legal issue".
He noted that all the necessary legal actions must be taken and from that point on there would be a basis for estimating the extent of the damage from the company's actions, at which point it would be at the discretion of Siemens and the Greek State to take action to fully compensate for this damage to public sector to the highest degree.
