PARIS (AP) – Cement group LafargeHolcim admitted Thursday that its business in northern Syria had struck “unacceptable” deals with armed groups, providing funds in order to allow its local activities to continue.
The group said in a statement that an internal investigation has established Lafarge’s local branch in Syria provided funds to armed groups via middlemen in 2013 and 2014 to guarantee safe passage for company employees and supply the plant it operated.
Lafarge merged with Swiss company Holcim to create LafargeHolcim, the world’s largest cement maker, in 2015. Lafarge stopped operating its $680-millon Syrian plant in September 2014.
LafargeHolcim said “in hindsight, the measures taken in order to continue the plant’s activity were unacceptable.”
“At the time, various armed groups controlled or sought to take control areas around the plant,” LafargeHolcim said. “It appears from the investigation that the local subsidiary provided funds to third parties to secure arrangements with a number of these armed groups, including third parties targeted by sanctions.”