MOSCOW (Sputnik) — LafargeHolcim CEO Eric Olsen handed in his resignation on Monday despite an earlier internal probe clearing him of having any knowledge of Daesh financing activities by the company's Syrian branch. In March, the company admitted to paying off armed groups and "sanctioned entities" in Syria in exchange for the security of its plant located to the north of Aleppo.
"Regarding the Finance Ministry lawsuit against LafargeHolcim, making settlements with terrorist groups such as Daesh is unacceptable… Any financing activity such as this one should be probed and those responsible should be punished regardless of who they are," Sapin said while broadcast by the CNews channel.
In June 2016, Le Monde newspaper reported, citing the documents it obtained, that the Lefarge factory had paid "taxes" to Daesh throughout 2013-2014 to be able to stay operational. This was before the plant's evacuation in September 2014 and before Lefarge's merger with Holcim the following year.
