MOSCOW, January 26 - RAPSI. The largest number of corruption violations in 2011 was revealed in the healthcare, education, housing and utilities sectors, Sergei Ivanov, the chief of staff of the Presidential Executive Office, said at a meeting of the state council to combat corruption on Thursday.

"A high level of corruption remains in a number of spheres, such as healthcare, education, housing and utilities, which citizens encounter everywhere. Most violations are committed there," Ivanov, who chairs the committee, said.

He cited the Investigative Committee's data for last year, according to which corruption cases were opened against 255 municipal entity heads and 253 municipal institution and enterprise employees.

"Some 1,990 criminal cases were initiated in the same period against healthcare and social workers," Ivanov said. About 2,000 criminal cases were initiated in the sciences and education, he added.

Furthermore, 302 cases were initiated against housing and utilities workers, he stressed.