June 25, 2021
After years of legal wragling and labor protests, the regime has reversed the privatization of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industry Company, and returned the firm to government ownership.
The firm’s sale to private owners became one of the most controversial cases of privat-ization as the employees took to the streets in opposition starting in 2015, claiming the new owners were unfit.
This was not the first reversal of a privatization, but it was a rare instance.
The Fars news agency reported May 8 that the government ruled the privatization project was corrupted and blatantly violated the provisions of Article 44 of the Constitution that provides guidelines on government downsizing and allowing enough space for private enterprise and cooperatives.
Judicial and supervisory bodies, including the General Inspection Organization of Iran, affiliated with the Judiciary, and the Supreme Audit Court, an arm of the Majlis, were involved in reexamining the case.
Located in Shush in Khuzestan province, Haft Tappeh is the largest sugarcane enterprise in Iran. It was founded in 1958 and produces sugar, alcohol, wheat, barley, kraft paper, industrial coal, molasses and bagasse.
Privatizing Haft Tappeh was one of the most controversial privatization projects of the Rohani Administration. Soon after it was ceded to a private owner in 2015, the company witnessed sporadic strikes and protests against poor working conditions and lengthy delays in paying wages to the 5,000 workers.
The often-clamorous protests attracted media attention and prompted a look into the complaints against the company’s management including allegations of nepotism and corruption in the privatization process.
The privatization was rolled back after investigations showed that basic privatization rules were ignored and the buyer was unqualified, Mohammad Ka’b-Amir, a Majlis deputy from Shush said.
Ka’b-Amir said the mega- company had been given away almost for free, which gave rise to the likelihood that buyers had connections to higher-ups and were involved in rent-seeking.