Ukraine has been designated the world's top violator of intellectual property rights in a new report by US Trade Representative (USTR). India and Pakistan are also in the list.
Ukraine was labelled a "priority foreign country", the top category for offenders on USTR's watch list.
The country has no clear system for collecting royalties, its governmental agencies use pirated software, and no effective system to combat rampant online piracy is in place, the report said.
No "priority foreign country" has been designated since 2006.
Ukraine held the status between 2001 and 2005, when it was suspended from the US Generalized System of Preferences, which gives trade preferences to developing countries.
The USTR report also contained the annual priority watch list, which included Russia for the 17th year in a row. Other entries on the list are Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand and Venezuela.
Published 03 May 2013, 15:37 IST