KUWAIT CITY – Communications Minister Mohammad al-Baseeri said on Tuesday he has formed a committee to probe allegations of widespread corruption in Kuwait Airways Corp. which is soon to be privatised.

“Last week, I formed a committee to investigate alleged financial and administrative violations in KAC. I gave the panel two months to complete the probe,” Baseeri told parliament during a debate.

Baseeri, whose ministry has responsibility for the airline, acknowledged “administrative corruption and financial wrongdoing” in the loss-making national carrier which parliament voted two years ago to privatise.

The minister vowed he will refer the findings of the investigation to the public prosecutor for criminal action.

Several MPs charged that many violations have been committed by KAC management, especially in the past two years when the legislation was passed to privatise the carrier.

“There has been a programmed theft of KAC so it will be sold at a very cheap price. KAC has become an example for corruption,” opposition MP Saifi al-Saifi said.

Under the privatisation law, KAC will be transformed into a private company with a 35-percent stake to be sold at auction to foreign or local investors and 40 percent to be sold to Kuwaiti citizens in an initial public offering.

Twenty percent will be reserved for state-run institutions and the remaining five percent will be distributed for free to the Kuwaiti employees.

The law stipulates that the privatisation process must be completed within a period of two years which ends later this month.

Two foreign consultancy firms have evaluated the assets of the airline and its subsidiaries.

The airline, which has incurred almost 2.5 billions dollars in losses during the past 19 years, has repeatedly come under fire from MPs who have accused it of squandering public funds.

The airline has a fleet of 15 Airbus and two Boeing aircraft which it bought in the early 1990s.

Source: business.maktoob.com