Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Andrii Pyvovarskyi is not ruling out the possibility of the Ukrzaliznytsia public joint-stock company suing the Odessa region’s Governor Mikheil Saakashvili over his allegation that USD 2.2 billion was taken out of the company in a single year, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reports.
"I have heard this information. At the same time, the total turnover of Ukrzaliznytsia will be USD 2.5-2.6 billion this year. Where did these figures [claimed in the allegation] come from? How were they calculated? Where are the facts? I have not received an answer to these questions," the minister said during delivery of the government's annual report on Wednesday, 9 December.
He added that the leaderships of Ukrzaliznytsia and the other enterprises in the industry that were accused of withdrawing funds would ask the Anti-Corruption Bureau to examine these allegations.
Earlier, the Odessa region’s Governor Mikheil Saakashvili accused Prime Minister Arsenii Yatseniuk’s Cabinet of Ministers and the country's largest businesses of involvement in large-scale corruption. According to him, Ukraine's losses are estimated at about USD 5 billion, including USD 2.2 billion in lost profits resulting from understated tariffs.
