A Change of Guard

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Wednesday 28 April 2010

Cambodian leader says cash was for social fund

PHNOM PENH
April 28, 2010
Business Week

THE Cambodian Prime Minister has denied that BHP Billiton paid a large bribe for an exploration contract in his country.

It was reported last week that the US Securities and Exchange Commission was probing BHP over a $US2.5 million ($A2.7 million) payment related to a project in Cambodia.

But Cambodian leader Hun Sen said the money was for a ''social fund'' established in an agreement between Australia and Cambodia, and was used to build a hydroelectric dam, schools and hospitals.
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''These days, they have been saying BHP paid illegal money to Cambodia,'' Mr Hun Sen said.

''Let's see the contract - it was a social fund. It is written in the contract. It is not secret.''
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Cambodian leader denies mining company paid bribe

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
Sydney Morning Herald

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has denied that an Australian company paid a bribe to win a mineral exploration contract.

Hun Sen said in a speech to businesspeople Tuesday that fees paid by the world's biggest mining company, BHP Billiton, in connection with obtaining a license for a bauxite exploration project in northeastern Cambodia went to a "social fund" that all foreign mining companies seeking exploration rights must contribute to. He said the money goes to irrigation, health care and school projects.

Last week, several Australian newspapers carried allegations that BHP Billiton paid a bribe of about $2.5 million to Cambodian officials for the exploration project. The company has acknowledged possible corruption, not necessarily in Cambodia.

BHP last week said it had evidence of possible corruption involving ''interaction'' with government officials, related to a minerals exploration project terminated last year.

It declined to reveal the location of the project, but said it was not in China, where four staff of rival miner Rio Tinto were jailed for bribery and commercial espionage last month.

BHP has said it paid $US2.5 million to a community in Cambodia's east and $US1 million to the government for bauxite exploration rights, according to reports.

BHP said it handed evidence to the US SEC and was conducting an internal investigation.

AFP
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Total pays Cambodia 28 mln dollars for oil exploration: PM

PHNOM PENH
Petroleumworld.com,
April 27, 2010

French oil company Total has paid 28 million dollars for the rights to explore an area in the Gulf of Thailand, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday.

The Cambodian government, during a visit by Hun Sen to Paris, announced its decision in July last year to grant Total the right to search for oil and natural gas in the country's offshore "Block 3".

Disclosing the price paid by Total for the first phase of the search for oil in the area, Hun Sen said that eight million dollars of the money would go towards a "social fund".

"Total offered the highest (bid) among the companies," he said.

Total will pay an additional 20 million dollars if it starts drilling for oil in the offshore area, Hun Sen added.

At the same time the premier denied Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton paid a large bribe for an exploration contract in Cambodia, saying that money had also gone into a social fund.

Total "also has paid this kind of money," Hun Sen said during a meeting between the government and private sectors.

Following the discovery of oil in 2005, Cambodia was quickly feted as the region's next potential petro-state, but production has stalled as the government and Chevron appear to have failed to agree over revenue sharing.

Hun Sen said earlier this month he would terminate his country's contract with Chevron if the US energy giant does not begin oil production from offshore fields by late 2012.

Concerns have also been raised over how Cambodia -- one of the world's most corrupt countries -- would use its new-found oil and gas wealth.

Story from AFP
AFP 04/27/2010

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