Russia Calls Evidence in Oil-for-Food Report Forged
Russia Calls Evidence in Oil-for-Food Report Forged
By ANDREW KRAMER
Published: October 28, 2005
MOSCOW, Oct. 28 - Russian officials responded today to a report accusing companies and politicians here of paying hefty kickbacks in the United Nations oil-for-food program for Iraq by saying the documents cited as evidence are actually forgeries.
An independent committee, led by Paul A. Volcker, the former chairman of the United States Federal Reserve, released the 623-page report on Thursday after an investigation that cost $33 million. The report included a detailed chapter on Russian oil companies and their dealings with the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.
Following its release, the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, said that countries should use the report's conclusions to prosecute companies under their jurisdictions. Russia, along with France, had won preferential treatment under the oil-for-food program. It handled a third of all oil contracts from Mr. Hussein's government, first because Moscow supported Iraq politically and later, as Iraq became more desperate for money, because Russian oil companies began paying big kickbacks, the report said.
Oil industry analysts here have shrugged off the findings, noting that they probably will not lead to prosecutions in Russia, a country with enough money laundering and kickback scandals of its own.
The Russian minister of foreign affairs, Sergey V. Lavrov, remarked today he had not read the report, but said that at least some of the documents used to support the report's conclusions are counterfeits.
By ANDREW KRAMER
Published: October 28, 2005
MOSCOW, Oct. 28 - Russian officials responded today to a report accusing companies and politicians here of paying hefty kickbacks in the United Nations oil-for-food program for Iraq by saying the documents cited as evidence are actually forgeries.
An independent committee, led by Paul A. Volcker, the former chairman of the United States Federal Reserve, released the 623-page report on Thursday after an investigation that cost $33 million. The report included a detailed chapter on Russian oil companies and their dealings with the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.
Following its release, the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, said that countries should use the report's conclusions to prosecute companies under their jurisdictions. Russia, along with France, had won preferential treatment under the oil-for-food program. It handled a third of all oil contracts from Mr. Hussein's government, first because Moscow supported Iraq politically and later, as Iraq became more desperate for money, because Russian oil companies began paying big kickbacks, the report said.
Oil industry analysts here have shrugged off the findings, noting that they probably will not lead to prosecutions in Russia, a country with enough money laundering and kickback scandals of its own.
The Russian minister of foreign affairs, Sergey V. Lavrov, remarked today he had not read the report, but said that at least some of the documents used to support the report's conclusions are counterfeits.
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