News
Charges against Glencore
last year, this mining company has stayed in the headlines. The media accuse the corporate giant of child labour, ruthless business practices and environmental contamination. Its management pledged to become more transparent in a bid to convince critics of a merger with competitor Xstrata, planned for July.
Both corporations are based in Switzerland. Greater transparency, however, means there is more information about the company’s malpractices. In the Democratic Republic of Congo the grievances seem to be worst. In April, the Swiss non-governmental organsations Brot für alle and Fastenopfer published a report that blamed Glencore for depriving the government in Kinshasa of $ 196 million by relying on offshore tax havens for the profits of its foreign subsidiaries. Moreover, the NGOs accuse Glencore of operating in areas where there is no rule of law. (ph)