Wheelchairs Made of Pirate CDs

Last Tuesday the Kyiv-based Artem Factory processed seized pirate CDs and videocassettes into materials to be used in the making of plastic articles, including wheelchair parts. Knockoffs worth UAH 100,000 are yet to be processed, Interfax quotes First Deputy Head of the State Tax Administration cum Tax Police Chief Viktor Zhvaliuk as saying. According to him, pirated compact disks and videocassettes worth four million hryvnias were seized in Ukraine in 2003, with fifteen pirating factories closed and criminal cases opened against more than 700 persons. At present, seized articles worth 1.4 million hryvnias are stored in Kyiv alone, Mr. Zhvaliuk stated.