World Bank-Funded Contracts Went to Sanctioned Parties, GAO Says

World Bank borrower countries awarded 28 contracts to entities that may have been on U.S. sanctions or export control lists from 2017 to 2021, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released last week. The bank doesn't disqualify businesses on U.S. sanctions or watch lists, and all entities from all countries can bid for borrower contracts, the report said, except for certain entities debarred by the World Bank or sanctioned by the U.N.

GAO said the contracts given to sanctioned entities were a “small fraction” of the total awarded by the bank. The 28 contracts, worth a total of $76 million, were out of about 150,000 contracts worth about $80 billion that GAO “reviewed in its analysis covering the period.” The bank told GAO it screens contract awardees against “some U.S. sanctions lists,” and was able to confirm only six of the 28 contracts were awarded to entities on U.S. lists. The Treasury Department told GAO it’s “not responsible for monitoring individual borrower contract awards, which occur after the World Bank board approves a project,” the report said.