April 2 2003, 10:08 UNIAN

Kozachenko's arrest is only a stage in grain market check - Procurator's Office

Arrest of former Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for Agriculture Leonid Kozachenko is only a stage in the check of grain market, Deputy General Procurator of Ukraine Tetyana Korniakova declared on Tuesday.

According to conclusions of Ukraine's Chief Control and Revision Department (governmental body to execute financial control of business activities), abuses of former Vice-Prime Minister resulted in 1.5 billion hryvnias of damage to the state, resulting from unprofitable exports of the 2002 crop grain, Ms Korniakova said.

In the course of investigation, the Procurator's Department is now performing various special-purpose inspections, including book-keeping one. Depending on findings of the inspections, the figure of damage might further increase, she said.

She said in 2002 State Joint Stock Company "Khlib Ukrainy" had applied to former Deputy Prime Minister Kozachenko with a request to allocate 2 million hryvnias for grain purchases to mortgage fund, but got a refusal. "At the same time, traders made a 400 million hryvnia worth of grain purchases", Korniakova said.

According to Procurator's Office, the 2002 state budget stipulated allocation of 150 million hryvnias for mortgage operations with grain, but only 49 million hryvnias were actually assigned. Export of grain in the second half of 2002 constituted 8.3 million tonnes.

"We are not against grain trading, including that with foreign partners. But this must be a transparent and absolutely lawful business, beneficial both for farmers and the state", she said.

She also informed that in the course of Procurator's checks there had been started another 200 criminal cases. Among major kinds of the abuses revealed there have been distorted statistical reports, write-ups of inexistent grain stocks, illegal grain sales from elevators, illegal reimbursement of VAT to grain traders, etc.

5.33 hryvnias = $1