MP denies link to Siemens ‘gifts’
New Democracy MP Kyriakos Mitsotakis was forced to publicly defend himself last night after it emerged that he had bought 137,000 euros’ worth of equipment from Siemens last year but only paid in full for the goods this week. German electronics and engineering giant Siemens is currently under investigation for allegedly paying millions of euros in bribes to politicians in Greece through its subsidiary Siemens Hellas in order to secure state contracts. Mitsotakis, the brother of Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, bought the equipment last year for his office, which he also used as the headquarters for his election campaign last year. The Athens MP said that he made an arrangement with the company to pay them back over a 12-month period. Mitsotakis paid a total of 93,227 euros in two installments. The first was on January 14 of this year and the second on March 21. The last installment of 43,850 euros was paid on June 2. Questions have been raised because this was just three days after prosecutor Panayiotis Athanassiou, who is investigating the possibility that politicians have accepted bribes from Siemens, visited the company’s offices in Athens. According to sources, Athanassiou examined paperwork relating to the supply of equipment to politicians for their election campaign centers as well as electrical goods that were given as gifts. Mitsotakis said that he will meet with Athanassiou to provide him with all the paperwork that should prove the transaction was above board.
