Ukraine's Finance Ministry Claims Previous Government Embezzled USD 375 Million

KIEV, Ukraine, December 8, 2010 - The Minister of Finance of Ukraine Fedir Yaroshenko stated in
a press briefing today that the Ministry's investigation of the recently
conducted international audit had revealed the embezzlement of 3 billion UAH
(USD 375 million) by Yulia Tymoshenko's government. The Minister also said
that the Ministry's auditing report on public spending in 2008-2009 had
already been submitted to the General Prosecutor's Office and to the
Ukrainian Parliament.

The main violations according to the above mentioned report
are the breaches of public procurement procedure for sugar, vaccines, and
expensive foreign cars. There were violations even when selling carbon
credits to other countries.

The Minister also added that according to an internal audit
carried out by the Main Control and Revision Office of Ukraine (MCROU, Public
Spending Inspection) released on 22 October 2010, the total amount of Yulia
Tymoshenko's government violations in spending of Ukraine's public funds in
2008-2009 reached 53 bln UAH (6.6 billion USD).

The audit was conducted by three US-based companies, Trout
Cacheris PLLC, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer&Feld LLP and Kroll Inc. and was
released on October 14. The fees that the Ukrainian government paid to
international auditors amounted to USD 2.9 million.

As a result of the audit, the present Ukrainian government
filed two lawsuits in the UK and US courts with the aim to recover the funds
misspent by Yulia Tymoshenko's government from various companies which had
been found involved in the money laundering schemes.

The full text of the report can be accessed at the web-site of
the Ministry of Finance: minfin.gov.ua/document/274231/report1.pdf

For more information, please contact the press center of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine +3080442065795, +380442530504, presa at minfin.gov.ua