July 4 2003, 09:47 Interfax-Ukraine

Ukraine's law-enforcement bodies continue investigating abuses in agrimarket

Ukraine's law enforcement authorities are warning the managers of agricultural enterprises against attempts to distort reporting data of the crop and draw attention to the necessity of creating a legal base for precise reporting and accounting in the agro-industrial complex of the country.

This was declared by the Vice Head of Department for Struggle with Economic Crime at Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs Leonid Skalozub at a briefing in Kiev July 3, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

According to Salozub, investigation of abuses, which entailed unjustified leap of prices for bread and other products, is being continued. He reminded that Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych, speaking to Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday, had disclosed the number of criminal cases started on the facts of such abuses, which exceeded 400.

"These are basically office abuses - stealth of grain from the state reserves, illegal uses of grain with subsequent appropriation of the funds. There have been lots of abuses connected with non-declaration and stealth of grain by managers of agricultural enterprises, directly engaged in growing and sales of grain", he said.

He emphasised that more than 400 cases were only those, which had been documented by militia officers. Both the State Security Service and the Prosecutor's Department were involved in the work as well, he said.

He also voiced the intent of the militia officers to control, together with tax inspectors, the export and import operations with grain.