Friday, May 18, 2012 -
Kazakhstan did not have anything to do with the recent allegations brought against Italian state-owned energy firm Eni, the Kazakh minister for oil and gas said on Friday.
“It is known that the Italian prosecutor’s office is examining an Eni subcontractor’s work from 2004-2005,” the Trend news agency quoted Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbaev as saying in the Kazakh capital Astana.
“It is clear that the Kazakh government has relations only with Eni, but not with its subcontractors.”
Italian prosecutors are investigating Eni for allegedly paying presidential son-in-law Timur Kulibayev $20 million in return for a stake in the massive Kashagan oil and gas field.
Several current managers of the company are under investigation, although Eni chief executive officer Paolo Scaroni is not one of them.
Eni has a 16.8 percent share in Kashagan, while firms such as Total, Shell, and KazMunaiGas (KMG) also investing in the project. ENI is leading its exploration phase.