Algeria investigates into Sonatrach employment scandals

Algeria’s National Gendarmerie opened investigation into allegations of corruption within Entreprise nationale des Travaux aux Puits (ENTP), L'Entreprise Nationale de Forage ENAFOR (Algerian National Drilling Company) and Entreprise Nationale de Géophysique (E.NA.GEO) following a complaint lodged by ArcelorMittal and foreign companies operating in the desert.

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• The complaining companies allege that huge deals were sealed by amicable agreement by the above-mentioned companies’ subsidiaries with national and foreign companies.
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• Sources say officials at the companies are heard while the investigation was extended to all the deals signed by the human resources department of Algeria’s energy group Sonatrach.
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• The deals were signed with the High Institute of Trade in Montreal, French and British institutes including Robert Gordon University.
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• According to the same sources, huge sums of money were paid on some contacts signed with Canadian, French and British. The training of one single person costs about 100 times its real value. It is a considerable fraud in training budget abroad or in some local training institutes.
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• The appointment of Nourredine Cherouati as the new chief executive of Sonatrach shows that the government wants to give a strong blow to corruption lobbies in hydrocarbons sector, said the same source.
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•  Investigators heard senior officials at the human resources central department in Sonatrach including B. M. as he was in charge of training and employees’ files. The hearings showed that there were virtual employees who have nothing to do with Sonatrach but they earn high salaries.
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• An official at the human resources section told investigators some of people who benefited from salaries illegally are living abroad.
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• Investigations show that those practices have been carried out for many years and the human resources department did not move to notify security forces, the National Gendarmerie or justice about this kind of corruption.