Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said Wednesday that his office had sent a request to the U.S. Justice Department for information on bribes given by carmaker Daimler, after the company was fined by the United States for corruption.
After Daimler had agreed to pay the fine and admitted that it had given kickbacks to government officials in Russia, among other places, an Internet campaign was launched urging the prosecutor to open an investigation into the graft.
Thousands sent petitions to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Interior Ministry, but both bodies kept mum. A spokeswoman for the office told The Moscow Times on April 7 that no investigation had been opened because the office "has not received any information regarding Daimler," despite the ongoing campaign.
When subsequently contacted by phone, representatives from the prosecutor's office and Investigative Committee declined to comment.
On Friday, the Interior Ministry said it had opened an internal investigation. A source told Interfax on Saturday that law enforcement bodies had only gotten involved after a personal order from President Dmitry Medvedev.
"There has been no concealment in this case, despite what several media outlets have reported," Chaika said Wednesday. "When [this information] became known, I discussed this with the Interior Ministry and the Federal Security Service. We asked the U.S. authorities to provide their official documents," Chaika told the Federation Council.
Chika said the office had sent an official request to U.S. authorities three weeks ago. "We are waiting for answers from the U.S.," he said.
Daimler's Russian unit, Mercedes-Benz Rus, was fined $27.4 million out of a total $185 million that Daimler has to pay — more than any of the auto company's other units. Among those found to have accepted the kickbacks are the Interior Ministry, the Defense Ministry, City Hall, Special Purpose Garage and the cities of Ufa and Novy Urengoi.