Volvo: many paid to work in Saddam’s Iraq

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Truck manufacturer Volvo, cited in a
U.N. report on kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s government, said
on Friday it did not allow bribes but noted payments to work in
Iraq were considered normal at the time.

The U.N.-appointed panel investigating the oil-for-food
program said on Thursday that 2,200 companies, including Volvo,
DaimlerChrysler and Siemens, had wittingly or unwittingly made
payments totaling $1.8 billion.

“Our agent (in Iraq), which we used at the time but with
whom we have not worked for quite a while now, has told the
commission that he paid money to the Baghdad regime and we have
no reason to doubt that,” said Volvo spokesman Marten Wikforss.

“One can question why, unfortunately, nobody spotted this
and raised the alarm about it,” he told Reuters.

“But one should remember that this was spoken about openly
and was perceived as something of a transaction fee which you
paid to the Iraqi regime in order to be permitted to do
business there. This is evident in the large number of
companies which are named here.”

He said the government in Baghdad was the legitimate
authority at the time and that all deals there were subject to
U.N. approval.

“This also contributed to people not really understanding
that it was not appropriate,” he added.

He said the group was examining the report.

“If it turns out to be true, it is naturally very serious.
We have a code of conduct which is clear as day on this kind of
thing. We don’t accept or permit bribes in connection with
business agreements,” he said.