The Prosecutor-General's Office (PGO) has filed a criminal case against Andrii Portnov, the Cabinet of Ministers-appointed acting chairman of the State Property Fund, on suspicion of illegal privatization of state assets.
The presidential press service announced this in a statement.
Prosecutor-General Oleksandr Medvedko announced the filing of the criminal case during a meeting with President Viktor Yuschenko.
The criminal case was filed under the Criminal Code's Article 233 (illegal privatization of state or communal assets) and Article 365 (exceeding one's power or office).
"We have set up a mobile investigative group, which includes experienced officials of the Prosecutor-General's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine, and a pre-trial investigation has started," the press service quoted Medvedko as saying.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the faction of the State Property Fund headed by Portnov intends to hold a competition for 99.52% of the shares in the Odesa portside factory (Odesa region) in the Cabinet of Ministers building at 11:00 on May 20.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the terms of a competition for 99.52% of the shares in the Odesa portside factory at the starting price of UAH 3 billion on February 11.
The State Property Fund announced the competition for the 99.52% stake of the factory on February 20.
Yuschenko suspended the privatization of the Odesa portside factory on April 15 by suspending the Cabinet of Ministers February 11 directive that approved the terms of privatization of 99.52% of the shares in the factory.
The State Property Fund canceled the competition on April 21.
A decree that Yuschenko issued on May 16 banned privatization of the Odesa portside factory.
