German firm Brenntag under the spotlight for selling chemicals to Syria

Shares in German chemicals distributor Brenntag dropped 4.4% on Wednesday after a German media report that said the company sold substances to Syria that could be used in chemical weapons.

The daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday that Brenntag, the world’s largest chemicals distributor, sold chemical raw materials diethylamine and isopropanol to a Syrian pharmaceutical company.

While a potential use of the precursor materials, diethylamine and isopropanol, is in pharmaceuticals they can also be used to make banned nerve agent sarin.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung quoted the group as saying shipments to Syria were made in compliance with the law.

Prosecutors in the western German city of Essen confirmed it had received a complaint concerning Brenntag from three non-governmental organizations, namely New York’s Open Society Justice Initiative, Berlin’s Syrian Archive and Switzerland’s Trial International.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said it had yet to decide whether to launch an investigation.

Via Reuters

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