Pentagon Confirms Giving Two $1.4 Billion No-bid Fuel ContractsMay 06, 2010
One of Congress's most powerful subcommittees is investigating two no-bid contracts worth $1.4 billion that the Pentagon awarded to two foreign companies. A subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is examining the contracts to deliver aviation fuel to U.S. bases in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. Human rights activists allege that the companies that received the contracts are connected to the families of two former Kyrgyz leaders who have been previously accused of corruption, according to a report in Newsweek. The article notes that the Defense Logistics Agency, the Pentagon's main supply agency, has acknowledged awarding a no-bid contract to Mina Corp. for supplying fuel to the U.S. base in Kyrgyzstan. The agency said the contract is worth up to $723 million over three years and was awarded under a section of the federal purchasing regulations that approves no-bid contracts. Newsweek. reported that the Agency has also awarded $720 million under the same provision that allows "contracting without providing for full and open competition" to a company called Red Star Enterprises. This company supplies Russian-grade aviation and jet fuel. The agency noted that Red Star was "the only company that had the capability to meet operational needs." A Washington, D.C. public relations firm that represents the companies said that the two companies are related, adding that Mina's initial Pentagon contracts were awarded after competitive bidding. The subcommittee is investigating the connection between these companies and the deposed president of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Opposition leaders involved in his ouster said that companies controlled by Bakiyev's son skimmed as much as $8 million per month from fuel sales to the U.S. base, according to the article. |
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