|
Russia skeptical about report on corruption in UN oil-for-food program
Russian politicians and business leaders on Friday issued a scathing response to a report documenting massive corruption in the UN oil-for-food program in Saddam Hussein's Iraq as companies around the world defended themselves from bribery charges. A day after the report's release, the head of the nation's electricity monopoly said its authors should be punished for including the name of a former Kremlin chief of staff now serving as its board chairman. Russia's biggest oil producer, Lukoil, suggested it had been named to divert attention from the world body's own failings. The report by the Independent Inquiry Committee led by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker accuses more than 2,200 companies and prominent politicians of colluding with Saddam's regime to milk the humanitarian operation of $1.8 billion in kickbacks and illicit surcharges.Posted by: Fred 2005-10-29 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=133481 |