Danish companies excluded from UN projects
Pump manufacturer Grundfos and a Funen auto distributor have been blacklisted by the UN for having dealt illegally with Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi government
Pump manufacturing giant Grundfos has been slapped with a six-month ban on dealing with the United Nations after the organisation determined the Danish company made illegal payments to the Iraqi government during the Oil for Food Programme.
Another company, Bukkehave, which provides vehicles and auto parts to international organisations and NGOs, was also banned from UN projects for six months.
Grundfos’s violations took place between 2000 and 2002. The on-going investigation by the UN, which has lasted five years and includes 19 other Danish companies, found that the pump manufacturer on two occasions paid million-kroner sums under the table to Saddam Hussein’s government to secure export contracts.
Christian Hartvig, Grundfos’s chief legal counsel, said the company will abide by the UN sanctions.
‘For us this is a yellow card teaching us that back in 2000-2002 we had some processes that did not sufficiently protect us against getting into these types of problems.’
He added that he did not yet know the scope of the ban, and that it may extend to projects with the UN’s independent organisations such as Unicef or the World Food Programme.
But while Grundfos accepted the decision, Bukkehave did not, maintaining its innocence of any wrongdoing.
‘Bukkehave’s deliveries for the UN’s Oil for Food Programme were all approved by the UN in New York as well as the Danish authorities, so we think any possible suspension is absurd,’ said the company’s managing director, Christian Haar, in a press release.
He said the company would appeal the decision.
It is possible that Bukkehave’s Danish offices can continue to work with the UN, as the violations were committed by its American subsidiary.
The UN’s investigation into violations of the Oil for Food programme is looking into the activities of 114 companies worldwide.
jp.dk - Danish companies excluded from UN projects
Indexed under: Corruption, Denmark, oil for food, Sanctions, U.N.