MOSCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Audit Chamber reported that the Defense Ministry misused USD488.2m allocated to it in 2003.
"These budget resources were not misappropriated, but misused or used ineffectively," Audit Chamber head Sergei Stepashin told Interfax on Thursday.
"In the early 1990s the situation was much worse in this respect," Stepashin said.
"A lot of credit for the improvements in this sphere should be given to the military prosecutor's office and to the military counter-intelligence service. No corrupt official goes unpunished. This is a serious signal for those who violate the law," he said.
"The largest number of financial crimes are committed in the services responsible for the distribution of food supplies and housing, and for mortgage lending," Stepashin said.