The actions of Lafarge, revealed by “Le Monde” in 2016, aimed to ensure the continuity of the production of the Jalabiya cement factory, in northern Syrian, inaugurated in 2010, a year before the start of The Revolution in Syria.
Le Monde with AFP
The Lafarge cement group, now under the leadership of the Swiss multinational Holcim, announced on Tuesday October 18, having agreed to pay a financial sanction of $ 778 million (790.9 million euros) in the United States And to plead guilty for having helped terrorist organizations in Syria, including the Islamic State organization (IS), between 2013 and 2014.
The French company “accepted the responsibility of the actions of the individual leaders involved, whose behavior was in blatant violation of the codes of conduct,” said Lafarge in a press release, adding “deeply regret” these acts.
The cement group stresses that the US Ministry of Justice has recognized that the company had implemented appropriate control procedures to now detect, and avoid, any conduct of this nature and had therefore estimated that it is ‘was “not necessary” to appoint an independent controller.
Lafarge adds, moreover, that he continues to cooperate fully with the French authorities on the same subject, but also says he is ready to “defend himself against any legal action which he considers unjustified”. In May 2022, the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed Lafarge indictment for “complicity in crimes against humanity”.
between 4.8 million and 10 million euros for the Only Ei group
The actions of Lafarge, revealed by Le Monde in 2016, aimed to ensure the continuity of the production of the Jalabiya cement factory, in northern Syrian, inaugurated in 2010, a year before the revolution of the revolution in Syria. This factory, the most important in the Middle East, represented an investment of nearly 700 million euros, and the French group did not want to abandon it in the hands of rebel groups, which would have surely dismantled it and sold in spare parts to scrap metal traders.
But the maintenance of the activity at all costs has been mined by Lafarge up to several million euros, paid in 2013 and 2014 to terrorist groups, such as the Al-Nosra Front and the Islamic State organization, which held dams in the area. The French authorities’ survey assessed that these payments may have reached between 4.8 million and 10 million euros for the EI group alone. The payments were made by the Syrian subsidiary of the group, Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS). After several hostage taking of employees, released against ransoms paid to armed groups, the factory closed in the fall of 2014, when the site was taken by the jihadists of the IS.
The action of Holcim was temporarily suspended on the Swiss Stock Exchange on Tuesday after the publication of the initial information concerning the agreement with the US Ministry of Justice.