Russian lawmaker denies oil-for-food claim

British lawmaker to defend self before Senate
Galloway planned to defend himself at a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

“The truth is, I have never bought or sold a drop of oil from Iraq, or sold or bought a drop of oil from anybody,” Galloway told the British Broadcasting Corp. before boarding a flight at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Zhirinovsky denied providing political or diplomatic support for Iraq in exchange for oil deals, calling the idea “absurd” and saying he always had opposed the U.N. sanctions. Zhirinovsky has been a Russian parliament member for more than a decade but was never in the government.

The U.S. report said the Russian Presidential Council — led by Alexander Voloshin, former chief of staff to President Vladimir Putin — received oil allocations worth more than $16 million, according to Iraq’s oil ministry. Voloshin could not be reached for comment.

Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said Russian authorities have seen no evidence of violations by Russian companies or individuals in the oil-for-food program. Zhirinovsky pointed out that it allowed Iraq to decide whom to sell oil.

The Senate report said Zhirinovsky on six occasions sold oil allotments to the Texas oil company Bayoil, whose owner, David B. Chalmers, has been indicted on charges related to the U.N. program. While Zhirinovsky said he had no commercial involvement in deals related to oil-for-food, he did not expressly deny a connection to Bayoil.

With Saddam favoring Russia, France and China, U.S. oil companies courted companies from those countries as they sought Iraqi oil, he said.

Bayoil “could have received oil through somebody,” he said. “But what link is there to me here?”

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