LyondellBasell (Rotterdam / The Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) could face bribery charges in the US under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FPCA). Agency reports say that the potential criminal charges concern payments the group, by its own account, made to officials in Kazakhstan in connection with recently dropped plans to build a 450,000 t/y polypropylene plant in the country. The plant, now to be built by Sinopec (Beijing / China; www.sinopec.com), will form part of a USD 1.7 bn petrochemicals complex.

In a late March filing, the polyolefins giant set to emerge from Chapter 11 insolvency proceedings at the end of this month notified US authorities of the payment it said was discovered in an internal review of international activities. Quoting unnamed sources close to the matter, Bloomberg said the investigation involves a USD 7m payment made two years ago to an individual associated with the Kazakh company SAT & Co. At the same time, it cited a LyondellBasell spokesman as saying, without elaborating, that the characterisation was “not accurate.”

Both LyondellBasell and the US Department of Justice have declined to officially comment on the case. However, a spokesman for Len Blavatnik, former owner of Basell and later LyondellBasell, told Bloomberg that plans for the Kazakhstan investment had been approved by the supervisory board. Its members at the time included Blavatnik and Kent Potter, who last year was named chief financial officer of LyondellBasell – see Plasteurope.com of 28.07.2009.

A US lawyer told the news agency that, while the investigation is not likely to influence LyondellBasell’s Chapter 11 exit plans, the group could face fines and even indictments. A hearing to confirm the reorganisation plan submitted on 11 March is scheduled for 23 April.