KHARKIV, Aug. 1 – The previous leadership of Kharkiv’s Malyshev Plant should pay part of the fines imposed by Iraq on Ukraine for its failure to supply on time a first batch of BTR-4 armored personnel carriers under a contract worth $550 million, said Mykhailo Dobkin, head of Kharkiv Regional Administration.

"There would not have been problems with the term of supply if there were not a problem created by the previous leadership by its idleness. I think that the state could get compensation for part of the money," Dobkin told the press.

He said that since his appointment as Kharkiv regional administration head, he has long been trying to reshuffle the plant's managers.