Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov has sent his office's annual report about the state of law and order to the legislature and the president, Russian news agencies reported on 30 April. In the 33-page report, Ustinov sharply criticizes law enforcement agencies and especially the Interior Ministry (MVD) for its ineptness in combating corruption. The report states that while the MVD knows about widespread corruption among state officials, including holders of the highest offices, most anticorruption investigations deal only with lower-level corruption.

The report noted that only 1 percent of corruption cases involve state officials. In addition, the report claims that although corruption is endemic throughout the state apparatus, the most massive corruption-related violations in 2001 were found in the Defense Ministry, the Science and Industry Ministry, the Transport Ministry, the Natural Resources Ministry, the State Property Committee, and the state-controlled companies Gazprom and Rosvooruzhenie.

(RFE/RL 02.v.02)