MOSCOW, October 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russian economic crime police have detected over 4,000 intellectual property-related crimes so far this year, which inflicted damage exceeding $1 billion, an Interior Ministry official said on Friday.

"Over the first nine months of this year, law enforcement bodies concerned have uncovered more than 4,000 crimes in this sphere, some 90% of which involved large amounts," said Yury Shalakov, the ministry's economic crime department head.

The Russian government approved in July the country's accession to the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty.

The Russian Interior Ministry reported in May that copyright piracy in Russia, which has been a major obstacle to the country joining the World Trade Organization, dropped 15% in 2007, year-on-year.

Russia, the second-largest market for pirated products after China, has been strongly criticized internationally for its failure to protect intellectual property rights. Over 4,000 people were arrested in 2007, and almost 4 million counterfeit items, mainly computer software, DVDs and CDs, worth an estimated 182 million rubles ($8 million) were seized.