STAVANGER, Norway - Norway's economic crimes authority has found fertilizer supplier Yara (
GREY:YRAIF,
Stock Forum) guilty of corruption involving deals in Libya, India and Russia and ordered it to pay 295 million kroner ($48 million) in fines.
The world's biggest supplier of nitrogen fertilizers acknowledged Wednesday that it had paid out bribes in the three countries totalling more than 70 million kroner ($12 million) during 2004 to 2009.
The agency has started an investigation into whether it can prosecute individual company members for the crimes.
Oslo-based Yara International ASA has operations in 50 countries, employing 10,000 people. It sells fertilizers and other crop nutrition programs to customers in 150 countries.