DNIPROPETROVSK, June 9 – The situation with value-added tax refunding has improved, although state bodies like the State Customs Services are still guilty of red tape and corruption, said Vasyl Kharakhulakh, director general of the Dnipropetrovsk-based Metallurgprom association of metal companies of Ukraine.

Kharakhulakh said at a meeting with representatives of mining and metal companies in Dnipropetrovsk on Wednesday that over the first five months of the year Zaporizhstal has failed to carry out customs clearance of equipment for a coal-dust facility, which reduces energy consumption in blast-furnace production.