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Minister: more than 250,000 tons of grain missing from Ukraine’s State Reserve

He compared the situation around the results of stocktaking at the State Reserve with the mythological stables of King Augeas

KIEV, August 21. /TASS/. More than 250,000 tons of grain that should be kept in Ukraine’s State Reserve as suggested by documents is missing form there in reality, Aivaras Abromavicius, the minister of economic development and trade twittered on Friday.

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"Something has gone wrong," his tweet said. "Stocktaking shows about 250,000 tons of grain has vanished from the State Reserve somehow. Grain is there on paper, and is missing in reality."

He compared the situation around the results of stocktaking at the State Reserve with the mythological stables of King Augeas.

"In 2014, thousands of tons of gasoline were mixed with kerosene at an oil product depot because of negligence - obviously by chance and not for covering up a huge short delivery," Abromavicius wrote. "At another depot fuel allegedly leaked the subterranean waters through a crevice. The case in hand is dozens of thousands of tons, And the ecologists didn’t notice anything."

Officials at Ukraine’s State Agency for Reserves said earlier on Friday "a full stocktaking of material values" had embraced 37 enterprises engaged in the storing of products and materials.

"Upon completion of the stocktaking, a shortfall of grain and grain products in the amount of 251,800 tons, which had been exposed by previous stocktaking inspections (held in the years 2001 through 2013 - TASS), was confirmed," an official said.

"A shortfall of material values of the foodstuff, manufactured and energy resource category in the amount of $ 3.95 million was confirmed," he said.

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