A recent WSJ Blog story, “Vimpelcom Expects $105 Million in FCPA Legal Fees” reports that Vimpelcom Ltd. expects to pay $105 million in legal fees for the resolution of its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case with the U.S. government, the company said in a securities filing.

In February, the Dutch telecommunications company paid $795 million paid in fines and disgorgement to settle foreign corruption charges with U.S. and Dutch authorities over the telecom giant’s entry into the Uzbekistan market.

Spiraling FCPA legal fees are often the long tail of companies’ resolution of foreign corruption that are a significant additional cost for companies and can suck up funds long after a case is resolved.

The company said it had paid its FCPA settlement fees in February and March and the remaining $105 million it had reserved for the resolution was for its legal costs.

“The remaining provision of US$105 mainly covers expected direct and incremental legal expenses associated with this resolution,” the company’s securities filing said.

Vimpelcom also noted that it doesn’t know exactly how high its legal bill will climb.

“The company currently cannot estimate the additional costs that it is likely to incur in connection with compliance with the DPA, the Consent and the Dutch Settlement Agreement, including the ongoing obligations to cooperate with the agencies regarding their investigations of other parties, the monitorship, and the costs of implementing the changes, if any, to its policies and procedures required by the monitor.  However, such costs could be significant,” the company said.

U.S. authorities are still investigating a number of individuals involved in the major bribery case.  Several shareholder cases have also been filed against the company.