One year before that date, Mercedes-Benz Rus notified the dealer of its intention to terminate the agreement. A former employee told Vedomosti that Mercedes-Benz Rus was not interested in canceling the deal, saying that the initiative came from the company's parent company, Germany's Daimler. Legal experts say the move was prompted by the results of a U.S. anti-corruption probe that revealed that Daimler bribed officials in 22 countries including Russia. The investigators said that in 2000 to 2005 Daimler, through its local dealers, paid at least 5 million euros ($6.55 million) to Russian officials responsible for the procurement of official vehicles for the Interior Ministry, the Federal Guard Service and other state agencies. Neither the U.S. Justice Department, nor the Russian law enforcement agencies, nor Daimler have filed any claims against the company's dealers in Russia, Vedomosti said.