Oslo-based Yara wins Ethiopian contracts after handing out prize

Nina Berglund:

Oslo-based Yara International, one of the world's largest fertilizer makers, has won some major contracts in Ethiopia, just three months after it awarded a controversial prize to Ethiopia's prime minister.

Norwatch, a news service backed by the human rights organization Framtiden i våre hender (Freedom in our Hands), reported Tuesday that parts of the contracts are worth around NOK 95 million (USD 14.2 million). Yara was granted the contracts after a bidding round in December, according to Norwatch.

Three months earlier, Yara awarded a prize for good leadership and USD 200,000 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The awards ceremony at Oslo's Concert House in September attracted a noisy demonstration outside, and Yara's decision to honor Zenawi was harshly criticized by such organizations as Amnesty International.

That's because Zenawi is accused of widespread human rights violations in Ethiopia. As many as 40,000 of Zenawi's opponents are believed to have been arrested in the past three months, and the European Union last week halted the payment of USD 375 million in foreign aid to the country.

"The (prime minister) is losing more and more of his international friends, and clearly wants to hold on to those he has," Kjetil Tronvoll, a researcher at the University of Oslo's Center for Human Rights, told news bureau NTB.

Tronvoll, an expert on Ethiopia, said Yara has "a moral responsibility" to be careful in its business dealings in Ethiopia, "because there are such massive human rights violations in the country."

Tronvoll noted there's reason to believe that distribution of fertilizer is used as a means of wielding political power by the authorities.

Yara's communications director Arne Cartridge called that "speculation" and downplayed any connection between Yara's new fertilizer contracts in Ethiopia and its award to Ethiopia's prime minister.

Cartridge stressed that Yara, formerly a part of industrial concern Norsk Hydro, has delivered fertilizer to Ethiopia for years. He called the new contracts "standard," and said Yara's sales to Ethiopia make up about a sixth of the country's total need for fertilizer.

Cartridge conceded that Yara was aware of the situation in Ethiopia when Zenawi was awarded his prize. "It's clear there are major challenges (in Ethiopia)," he told NTB. "We'll let the future determine whether it was the proper decision."

Corruption seeping into Norwegian life