The commission looking into alleged corruption in the Iraq oil-for-food programme charges that Volvo Construction Equipment (CE), a subsidiary of the giant Volvo Group of Sweden, refused to cooperate with investigators.

It concludes that the Swedish company “knowingly" paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime in connection with a large contract for vehicles delivery.

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Volvo: ‘Don’t understand criticism’

Klas Magnussen, Head of Information at Volvo CE, comments to Development Today: “We do not understand the criticism. We have tried to answer both in writing and by telephone questions from the [Volcker] commission."

Many of the firms listed in the Volcker Report for paying kickbacks to the Saddam Hussein regime in connection with oil-for-food contracts are important suppliers to the aid community. 150 of them are registered in a database at the UN Global Marketplace which is open to all procurement staff in the UN and the World Bank.

Nordic Oil-for-food Network

NORDIC OIL-FOR-FOOD NETWORK:Nordic registered firms listed in oil-for-food investigation. Not all firms “made, authorised or knew" about illicit payments.Sweden:AB Jan Falk EngineeringABB Automation Prod. ABABB ...

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Helsinki has formally requested the Finnish police to investigate whether Finns were involved in corruption concerning a concessional aid loan granted to Costa Rica three years ago.