Mikhail Yezhel is suspected of having sold three navy vessels without proper authorization, Deputy Prosecutor General Olexander Atamaniuk was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Two of them, the Makeyevka and Kertsch tankers, were bought by a Cypriot firm for 200,000 dollars (170,000 euros), he added, saying that Yezhel had caused the state losses of 570,000 dollars.

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma fired the head of the navy during an unscheduled visit late last month to a Black Sea navy base which he discovered was in dire condition.

Yezhel, 51, was appointed to the post in August 2001 after serving for five years as a deputy defense minister in this ex-Soviet republic.

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