June 2 2004, 10:46 UNIAN

Annual exhibition Agro-2004 soured by lawsuit and criminal case against its organiser

On June 1 the International Exhibition Agro-2004, organised by the Corporation "Ukrainian Universal Agro-Industrial Exchange" (Ukragroprombirzha), was opened in the village of Chubinskoye near Kiev. The President of the Corporation Viktor Privalov said at the opening ceremony there were and about 700 companies from 24 countries (including the US, Israel, Germany, Poland and others), which displayed their exhibits, and over 150 foreign participants, taking part in the exhibition.

During the past six years the International Exhibitions "Agro" were held in the village of Chubinskoye near Kiev, with the Ukragroprombirzha being their authorised organiser and managing host. However, in November 2003 the Agrarian Policy Ministry of Ukraine removed the exhibition complex in Chubinskoye from disposal of the Corporation and handed it onto the balance of the State Trading Enterprise "Khreshchatyk", together with the exclusive rights of authorised organiser of all the exhibitions and fairs, held under the auspices of AP Ministry. The Minister Viktor Slauta said the organiser of the exhibitions had been changed, because the work of Ukragroprombirzha had proved unsatisfactorily and the corporation committed breaches of Ukrainian laws.

On May 17 2004, the district police department in Borispol (Kiev Oblast) sued a criminal case against authorities of Ukragroprombirzha on the fact of felonious demolition of state property in the AP Ministry's exhibition complex in Chubinskoye in an especially large scale.

Late in May Ukragroprombirzha submitted a claim to the Kiev Business Court against the AP Ministry's decision to change the organiser of exhibitions in Chubinskoye.

Meanwhile, the First Deputy Agrarian Policy Minister Yury Luzan said to media that another event - the 16th International Exhibition & Fair "Agro-2004" - would this time be held in the National Exhibition Complex "Expo Centre of Ukraine" in Kiev (the event is scheduled for June 16-24). He said the site of the event had been removed from Chubinskoye due to a number of reasons. The key factor is a necessity to modernise the exhibition pavilions in Chubinskoye and to improve display conditions for the exhibitors, he said. Another important factor is absence of proper access roads to the exhibition floor and its undue sanitary conditions at the current moment.