April 2 2003, 08:59 APK-Inform

Ukraine's authorities process 200 grain-related criminal cases

Ukrainian Procurator's Office departments, in the course of inspecting the country's agricultural market, have instituted 200 criminal cases on the facts of office abuses and other crimes in farming industry, press-service of General Procurator's Office has informed.

In particular, criminal cases have been started on the facts of unlawful export VAT refund, counterfeits of statistical data by responsible employees of grain enterprises and State Statistics Committee, non-execution of state control requirements in grain storage, including grain, stored in the state reserve.

The checks have also established numerous facts of grain stealth by managerial stuff of grain enterprises.

On March 13 Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma ordered Procurator General Sviatoslav Pyskun to investigate the situation in local grain market. In particular, Pyskun was charged by the President to learn the causes of grain deficit, to reveal possible facts of monopolisation in the market, artificial "winding-up" of prices, etc.