ROME (TIP): Italian PrimeMinister Mario Monti hassaid that his governmentwould guarantee the “correctgovernance” of statecontrolleddefence firmFinmeccanica followingarrest of its chief executiveon corruption charges in theRs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopterdeal with India.”The government was ableto intervene with somemeasures to guarantee thecorrect governance of thecompany and the wholegroup,” Monti said. The primeminister had earlier promisedto do “whatever necessary toclean up” Finmeccanica. Healso assured that theprosecution would do its dutyin the case of Finmeccanica’sjailed ex-chief executiveofficer Giuseppe Orsi.

“I am sure that theprosecution in this case willdo its duty as in other similarcases,” he told reporters. Orsiwas arrested by Italianagencies on Tuesday as partof their probe related tointernational corruption in acase involving the payment ofbribes in the Rs 3,600 croredeal for 12 VVIP helicoptersto India.In February 2010, India hadinked the deal to acquire the12 three-engine AW-101helicopters fromAgustaWestland for IAF‘selite CommunicationSquadron, which ferries thePresident, PM and otherVVIPs.

The deal came under thescanner of Italian agenciesafter allegations of kickbacksgiven in India surfaced.Finmeccanica, Italy’sbiggest defence contractor,appointed Alessandro Pansaas the new CEO to succeedOrsi.Earlier, economy ministerVittorio Grilli had said thathis ministry was working tomake sure thatFinmeccanica adopts asystem of governance thatprovides managementcontinuity, protectsshareholders’ interests andguarantees transparentdecision-making.