On February 24, 2021, the World Bank Group announced that it had issued a thirteen-month debarment for Ferrostaal Oil and Gas GmbH (FSOG), a German engineering and construction contractor for oil and gas plants, for committing a “fraudulent practice” in connection with the Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management Project in Myanmar. Specifically, the World Bank stated that FSOG, while acting as a local Myanmar “partner and agent” for another company, had allegedly instructed the company engaging it not to disclose in the company’s initial bid the commission FSOG was to receive for its work. The World Bank added that this failure to disclose was not corrected in a later amendment to the World Bank-financed contract.
Under the settlement, the World Bank significantly reduced FSOG’s period of debarment with conditional release because of the company’s “extraordinary cooperation and voluntary remedial actions.” FSOG agreed, as part of the settlement, to implement a compliance program consistent with the World Bank’s compliance guidelines and to cooperate fully with the World Bank Group Integrity Vice Presidency.