SANA'A: Since allegations of corruption came out involving Canadian-based oil company Nexen, Pierre Alvarez, one of the multinational's spokesmen told the press that “it is completely and totally unfounded. “We have one of the most robust integrity monitoring processes in the industry. We operate by international standards as well as ours that exceed any industry-wide standards out there.” According to government sources and former employees in Yemen, Nexen has engaged in “illegal” behavior as its senior management was trying to bribe their way through a production-sharing agreement extension, allowing them to retain Yemen's most lucrative oil site. Alexandra Wrage, founder and president of the anti-corruption agency TRACE International, said it's difficult to say if the charges are believable. “The rumor mill is rife … we have people checking the multi-lingual media,” she said. “And to be clear, I have absolutely no confirmation that there is anything to this at all.” However, she noted that even if there was indeed some basis to the claims, proving it would be lengthy and costly. “Proving international corruption charges is very difficult and it requires the cooperation of many bodies, most importantly that of the government where the crime is allegedly being committed,“ a lawyer specializing in international law told Bikyamasr.com. Nexen is now arguing that since the accusations came first from the Yemen Post, an independent Yemeni newspaper led by Hakim Almasmari, the so-called scandal is politically motivated, a means to further domestic goals. However, if the Canadians are trying to downplay the allegations by using Yemen's unrest and political upheaval, one cannot escape from the fact that with the unraveling of the regime, many corruption cases are coming to the surface, and in many instances they have to do with the oil industry. Former oil ministry employees and high ranking officials have admitted under cover of anonymity that Nexen did use to its advantage rampant corruption in Yemen, granting tenders to less than worthy contenders for their political connections, or simply gifting those close to President Ali Abdullah Saleh to ensure smooth operations. “For the past decades, businessmen have had to deal with corruption on some level. No deal in this country, especially in the oil industry goes through without some officials or company's employees being bribed. It is not specific to Nexen, it is how Yemen is conducting its business. Honest men do not do business for long in this country,” a retired procurement officer told Bikyamasr.com. As Yemenis are scrambling to rebuild their country, many activists have vowed to fight corruption by denouncing the culprits and urging the government to set up an anti-corruption system as well as an ethical program which local and foreign companies would have to comply with. Yemen Exposed, a site run by and for Yemenis is doing just that; by collecting all corruption allegations, some documented, some not, this group is trying to catalog Yemen's shady past, denounced all wrong-doers and set the country on a better path. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/b2Q3J Tags: Canada, Corruption, featured, Nexen, Oil Section: Business, Latest News, North America, Yemen
