The Ministry of International Trade and Industry on Thursday ordered Kyocera Corp. to pay about 12.7 million yen to the state for misappropriating a subsidy for a project to develop a solar-powered car. On top of the fine, the Kyoto-based major electric appliance maker will be ineligible for subsidies for three years and will be banned from participating in ministry-designated competitive bidding, MITI officials said. Kyocera, a ceramics manufacturer which is active in manufacturing semiconductor components and telecommunications devices, was granted a total of 220.69 million yen in subsidies from MITI beginning fiscal 1990 through 1994 to develop a pollution-free car power system by utilizing solar technology. The subsidies effectively covered half the necessary costs of the project, including personnel and material expenses, according to MITI officials. However, MITI has found through an investigation which commenced late last year that the firm padded its expense account by about 6.68 million yen and channeled the subsidies to other uses while destroying account documents. The 12.7 million yen MITI ordered Kyocera to refund Thursday includes the misappropriated amount as well as an additional fine of around 6 million yen. Katsusada Hirose, vice trade minister, expressed deep regret over the incident at a regular news conference Thursday, saying his ministry had admonished five officials who were involved in the granting of the subsidies. Hirose pledged that MITI would do its utmost to ensure the accountability of its subsidization scheme to prevent a recurrence. The Kyocera fiasco first came to light last year when a former researcher for the firm published a book claiming the company had misappropriated the money. Through a press statement issued later in the day, Kyocera offered deep apologies for the incident and said it accepted the administrative disposition gravely and will make efforts to prevent a recurrence.
