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This is an archive article published on August 20, 2005

Firm says it paid bribes to Iraq in UN programme

A danish maker of industrial pumps, Grundfos, on Friday admitted paying kickbacks to authorities in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq under the UN ...

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A danish maker of industrial pumps, Grundfos, on Friday admitted paying kickbacks to authorities in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq under the UN oil-for-food programme.

‘‘We deeply regret that two employees have taken part in bribery in connection with Grundfos’s sales of pumps under the oil-for-food programme,’’ Grundfos Chief Executive Jens Joergen Madsen said in a statement.

The company said an internal investigation in May 2004 had revealed that the employees had paid bribes to Iraqi authorities in 2001-2002 to win two orders. It fired them and notified the Danish Foreign Ministry and the United Nations about the matter.

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The company, which sold products worth up to $16 million under the oil-for-food plan during 1996-2003, declined to comment on the size of the bribes.

Grundfos has been contacted by the UN in the investigation of the oil-for-food programme being conducted by former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker.

‘‘We have done everything to openly cooperate with the UN in New York to end the case in a satisfactory way,’’ Grundfos aid.

Reuters

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