ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Following reports of bribes to high-level Iraqi officials in exchange for electricity deals, new Minister Luay al-Khatteeb met with representatives from General Electric and Siemens in Baghdad.
"I had excellent meetings with GE & Siemens," Khatteeb tweeted early on Thursday.
The American and German companies have been competing for billions of dollars of business to revamp Iraq's aging electrical grid. Their systems are proprietary, putting Iraq at a technological crossroads.
"We deep dived into the technical aspects of their proposed roadmaps for the ministry’s objective of fast tracking the expansion of generation capacity for summer 2019 in addition to boosting overall grid efficiency in Iraq," added Khatteeb.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that it had seen a consultant report regarding a probe into corruption allegations last summer, but GE didn't believe it has violated any US laws.
Khatteeb then directed his ministry's general inspector to follow up.
"While the ministry stresses that it seeks to address all manifestations of corruption and referring the corrupt to the court, it is also keen that efforts of fighting corruption doesn't impugn the reputation of its employees without evidence," read a statement from his office released on Tuesday.
The US-based newspaper had written it had seen the "confidential report."
"The ministry calls on the newspaper to present what they have in evidence and documents concerning what was in its report," added the Iraqi statement.
Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser has said "some unusual special forces" may have been interfering in the deal estimated to be between $13-15 billion.
There were reports of US President Donald Trump's administration pressuring Baghdad to side with the American company.
"The ministry's vision for the next stage depends on two equally essential factors in their importance: efficiency in providing Iraq with what it needs of electrical energy, financial and administrative integrity in all the sectors of the ministry," added the Iraqi statement.
Kaeser signed a memorandum of understanding with the ministry on October 20. GE also signed an agreement with Baghdad in October.
Khatteb assumed office in October with the formation of the new Iraqi government.
Electricity availability in Iraq varies by province. Its south is heavily dependent on Iranian electricity to meet domestic shortages.
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