Ukraine to crack down on steel export frauds

Ukraine to crack down on steel export frauds

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko announced that the government decided to begin inspections of the country's iron and steel plants in order to determine the actual import and export prices of metal products and raw materials. The Prime Minister said that five Ukrainian families were cheating the government out of millions of dollars by deliberately understating the export value of metal products and raw materials. Timoshenko added that the government would not retreat from its decision to increase tariffs on freight rail haulage. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Association of Ferrous Metallurgy Enterprises reportedly decided to hold an emergency meeting of association members on April 13 to discuss the current attitude of the government. The association claims that the continuous rise in tariffs might result in temporary shutdowns of some production facilities, a drop-off in investment and growing production costs, all of which would endanger the foreign competitiveness of Ukrainian producers.