Posted on 10/06/2004 3:19:35 PM PDT by 11th_VA
Russian government officials, political parties and companies were "allocated" millions of barrels of oil by Saddam Hussein's regime and made millions of dollars in profits from negotiating their sale, according to a leaked Iraqi Governing Council report obtained by The Moscow Times.
Alexander Voloshin, chief of staff under former President Boris Yeltsin and until last October under President Vladimir Putin, made hundreds of thousands of dollars from Iraqi oil, according to an appendix to the report on the role of Russian companies.
The Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and, indirectly, the pro-Kremlin Unity Party made profits in the millions of dollars, the document said.
About 20 Russian oil companies are also included on the list as having made huge profits from allocations.
The alleged oil allocations occurred between 1996, when the UN oil-for-food program went into operation, and 2003, when the United States invaded Iraq. Voloshin's alleged involvement occurred in 2002, as the United States was pressuring the United Nations to support military action.
Under the UN oil-for-food program, Iraq was allowed to sell oil under UN auspices and use the proceeds to purchase humanitarian goods.
The report said Hussein's regime allocated specific quantities of Iraqi oil to companies, individuals and political parties that had no experience in the oil industry. It is not clear what they paid for the rights to the oil, but the report lists them as having made large profits.
"Crucially, the Russian counterparties were not the end user of Iraqi crude oil and they typically re-exported the oil to other counterparties," the report said. These counterparties are presumed to be UN-approved traders who sold the oil on world markets.
A senior Western diplomat familiar with the sanctions on Iraq said that while the report indicates "suspicious" behavior, it does not mean Russian organizations broke the sanctions regime.
"UN Resolution 661 states very clearly that member states and their nationals were prohibited from making any financial or economic resources available to the government of Iraq," he said. "The key thing is actually proving they were complicit in making funds available [to Iraq], which is more difficult. It's all well and good having your name on a list, but it proves nothing."
The report said Russia received "unprecedented priority" in the allocation of Iraqi crude, accounting for 33 percent of all allocations over six years.
"Through their activities, they [Iraq] have gained the indebtedness of the Russian Federation and, with that, its weight and leadership on the world stage as well as its permanent membership on the Security Council," the report said.
The report was written at the request of the Iraqi Governing Council, according to Claude Hankes-Drielsma, a former adviser to the IGC. It was prepared by the Iraqi Oil Marketing Organization, or SOMO.
Details of the report, dated Feb. 19, were first published last weekend by The Sunday Times.
Dhiaa Al-Bakkaa, the current director of SOMO, said he has not read the report and therefore could not comment. A spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry also declined to comment.
The report said Voloshin profited by an estimated $638,000 after he was allocated 3.9 million barrels of oil from May to December 2002, during the run-up to the U.S. invasion in March 2003.
Voloshin left his job as chief of staff in October 2003, but kept his job as board chairman of Unified Energy Systems. Voloshin's assistant said Wednesday he was not available for comment. A Kremlin spokesman declined to comment.
Companies connected to the Communist Party were allocated 142 million barrels of oil and made an estimated profit of $16.4 million, according to the report. Vladimir Zhirinovsky and his LDPR was allocated 75.8 million barrels and profited by about $8.7 billion, the report said.
The report also lists Emercom, and in parentheses the emergency situations minister and the Unity Party, as profiting from Iraqi oil allocations. Emercom, the trading arm of the Emergency Situations Ministry, was allocated 73.5 million barrels and profited by an estimated $7.6 million, the report said. The ministry is headed by Sergei Shoigu, a leader of United Russia and its predecessor, Unity. In 2002, Western diplomats accused Emercom of involvement in a kickback scheme for Iraqi oil. The ministry denied any wrongdoing and said Emercom had not violated UN regulations in its dealings with Iraq.
A report published in January by the Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada alleged that Russian companies and political parties, including the Communist Party and LDPR, had profited from Iraqi oil sales.
The Iraqi Governing Council ordered an investigation based on Al-Mada's allegations.
When the allegations surfaced in January, Viktor Ilyukhin, a State Duma deputy with the Communist Party, denied his party had profited from Iraqi oil sales. Zhirinovsky, who was a vocal supporter of the Hussein regime and met with the Iraqi leader in Baghdad, also denied having taken part in the scheme.
The Russian Orthodox Church also is listed as having been allocated Iraqi oil, but it did not receive the allocations or profit from them, the report said.
Another report, by the top U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, scheduled for release late on Wednesday, was expected to address problems with the oil-for-food program and possibly document oil allocations by Hussein's regime.
Staff Writer Valeria Korchagina contributed to this report
We're all waiting ...
Ping!
Nothing like a little profit for the Commies and the Liberal Democrats (is Liberal Democrat an oxymoron in Russia or just a plain moron?).
Is there anybody who wasn't taking kickbacks?
The communist party who are led by Putin, seem to be funding a cue against democracy in their own country...
But I guess I am just a conspiracy theorist....
No wonder nobody supported us in the war to remove Saddam; it was the motherlode (in more ways than one).
I happened to catch some pro UN pundit today on the news. She said that sanctions and weapons inspections were wildly successful. She did note that Saddam managed to "exploit some small loopholes with limited success."
In short she was trying to minimize the oil for food program.
Oct. 30, 2003
Mr Voloshin is reported to have tendered his resignation on Wednesday over the arrest of Russia's richest businessman, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, over the weekend on charges of tax evasion, fraud and forgery.
The chief of staff's departure came hours after prosecutors impounded a 44% stake in Mr Khodorkovsky's company, Yukos, under laws designed to tackle organised crime.
Correspondents say the moves against Yukos were part of a power struggle between hardliners and liberals.
Mr Voloshin, 47, has been described as a liberal and a pro-business figure with strong sympathies for Mr Khodorkovsky and his oil empire.
He was one of the last key figures in the Kremlin to have survived from the previous administration of Boris Yeltsin.
The UN should be sued at the World Court. Play 'em off against each other.
Yeah, me! I wasn't taking any kickbacks!
I wasn't. How about you? ;)
I don't think any of the Iraqi people got any of those kickbacks.
Far worse than being useless, the UN is CORRUPT! I can only hope that as an organization it is on its way out,,at least out of our country.
It's as we have known for awhilw, the people that opposed us in these foreign countires made their money off the blood of the Iraqi's.
What I want to have released every single name in OUR country involved. Including those in government positions. I know G.W and Cheney won't be on that list, I'd like to see who would be!
No war.
FOR OIL!!!!
Bush and Cheney weren't taking any kickbacks. And they're the "oil men".
Putin does not lead the communist party - the communist party never went out of business and is now the largest opposition party in the Duma against Putin.
I still think he is a communist, even if he doesn't set in the seat of leadership...wanting to take away Russian peoples right to choose their own leaders gives me a hint...
I am not saying Putin is a new Jefferson - just not a communist.
Another ping for reading later
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