MOSCOW (MRC) -- The former head of Mexican state oil company Pemex, Emilio Lozoya, "categorically denied" allegations he received USD10 MM in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for awarding the Brazilian company a contract at a refinery, reported Reuters.
Brazil's O Globo newspaper at the weekend reported documents alleging that former Odebrecht executive Luis Alberto de Meneses Weyll said bribes were paid from 2012 in return for a contract at Mexico's Tula refinery.
Lozoya, who resigned as Pemex president in 2016, posted on Twitter late on Sunday that he had never participated in corrupt practices, calling the allegations "absolutely false."
"Supposing there were accusations against me by confessed criminals, it is important to mention at least that these people can say anything in exchange for a reduced sentence," he wrote in a letter appearing on his Twitter account.
Since settling in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland for a record USD3.5 B, Odebrecht has sought to negotiate leniency deals that would allow it to keep operating in other countries across Latin America.
Odebrecht admitted in the settlement with US and Brazilian prosecutors to paying bribes across 12 countries to win contracts, including USD10.5 MM in Mexico.
As MRC informed earlier, last week, Pemex began to restart its propylene production at two of its refineries as it brought key processing units back online. Pemex restarted a fluid catalytic cracker at its Salina Cruz refinery in Oaxaca, which was shut following a June 14 fire. Pemex's Minatitlan refinery in Veracruz saw the first of two FCC units come back online August 5, and the second unit restarted on August 12. The Minatitlan units had been offline for maintenance, the source previously said.
Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS).
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