BERLIN, Sept 23, 2008 (AFP) - The German industrial group Siemens unveiled a foundation Tuesday to coordinate its philanthropic activities, on the eve of the trial of a former executive charged with breach of trust.

The 400-million-euro (590-million-dollar) Siemens Foundation would focus on support for technological innovation, education, culture and the study of climate and demographic change, a statement said.

It was launched a day before former Siemens executive Johannes Feldmayer was to stand trial for breach of trust in connection with the funding of a small German trade union.

Siemens has also been caught up in a much wider corporate corruption scandal centered on the practice of paying kickbacks to obtain lucrative foreign contracts.

That affair has cost the jobs of almost all of the company's top executives.

The sprawling conglomerate has acknowledged that 1.3 billion euros was funneled into various funds used to obtain foreign contracts, and that the practice was widespread across its numerous divisions.

The 160-year-old group manufactures products from light bulbs and medical equipment to railway trains and power stations, and employs around 400,000 people worldwide.

It agreed in October to pay a fine of 201 million euros to put an end to some German legal proceedings but is also the subject of a potentially damaging probe by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.