SADDAM 'BOUGHT OFF' RUSSIA 
By NILES LATHEM 
May 16, 2005
WASHINGTON — Saddam Hussein awarded sweetheart oil deals to Russian political figures — including President Vladimir Putin's former chief-of-staff — to buy that country's vote on the United Nations Security Council, a Senate report charged yesterday. 
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released evidence implicating Alexander Voloshin, who was chief-of-staff to Putin and ex-President Boris Yeltsin, as part of a report on the United Nations' oil-for-food scandal. 
Citing Iraqi Oil Ministry documents and interviews with former regime figures, including Saddam's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, the committee wrote that Voloshin was awarded allocations for 90 million barrels of discount Iraqi crude through a Kremlin policy board, and profited more than $3 million. 
According to the report, dozens of Russian politicians, businessmen and political parties got vouchers from Saddam during the oil-for-food program as Iraq moved to weaken sanctions and beat back U.S. efforts to prevent it from rebuilding its military might. 
Russian entities were found to have accounted for 30 percent of Iraq's sweetheart oil deals. 
The subcommittee also traced deals in which Russian ultra-right politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky was awarded vouchers for 75.8 million barrels of discount crude, which made him about $1.2 million. 
Voloshin, who resigned amid an oil scandal in 2003, was deemed one of the most influential people in the Kremlin. He has not commented publicly on the allegations and gave no official response to the subcommittee. 
The report was considered so explosive that the White House had asked the panel to delay its release until after President Bush's trip to Moscow last week.