§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when and where payment was made by the Export Credits Guarantee Department of the agent's commission on the contract the ECGD backed on the sale of bridges to Papua New Guinea; and what percentage of the contract the commission represented. [163537]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienECGD does not pay agent's commission on contracts it supports. However, the element of the contract price which reflects commission payments can be financed by banks within the loans ECGD guarantees.
ECGD is normally obliged to treat all information provided by its customers on the payment of agent's commission confidentially, using it to establish that the payment and value of the commission are acceptable.
Following our request, the exporter has agreed that ECGD can disclose that it employed a private engineering company to act both as local agent and subcontractor. Commission formed an element of this arrangement and it was payable as work progressed. The commission was financed under the ECGD-guaranteed loan.
§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Export Credits Guarantee Department covered agent's commission on the contract it supported on the addition of Trains 4 and 5 to the liquified natural gas plant at Bonny Island in Nigeria; what percentage of the contract the commission represented; and what the(a) place and (b) date of payment were. [158313]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienECGD is not covering agent's commission on this contract.