UN to terminate direct contract with Satyam: Report

WASHINGTON: The United Nations is to snap a direct contract with the scam-hit Indian software exporter Satyam Computer Services, a media report has said.

The Fox News in an online report quoted a spokesman for the UN Secretariat as saying that "one direct contract it (UN Secretariat) had with Satyam is to be terminated".

However, the report did not have details of the particular contract.

Satyam has been in the doldrums following its founder B Ramalinga Raju's confession in January that he cooked company's account books and inflated profits for many years.

"... in light of the developments with Satyam, the UN has also asked a little-known UN agency called the International Computer Centre, which has served as an intermediary in hiring Satyam indirectly, replace its contract with Satyam as soon as possible," the report published on Monday said.

Earlier in January, the UN had suspended Satyam from the Secretariat's vendor database and placed all ongoing contracts with the company under review.

"Satyam has been suspended from the UN Secretariat vendor database. The information has been communicated to the UN procurement system and the UN Global Marketplace.

"Ongoing contracts with Satyam are currently under assessment," UN Procurement Division's Integrated Support Service Chief Kiyohiro Mitsui had said.