EcoPolitics journalists have collected for their readers the 5 most significant cases of environmental damage that became known during the week of December 14-20. Information about them was published by the press services of prosecutors' offices and units of the State Ecological Inspectorate of Ukraine.
1. Environmental inspectors of the Prydniprovskyi District recorded land contamination with water of unknown origin (with a characteristic smell of sewage) on the territory of the Shakhtarskyi Park in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro region. The estimated damages amount to almost UAH 15 million.
2. On the territory of the general geological reserve of national importance “Dnipro Rapids” on Khortytsia Island in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, specialists of the Southern District Environmental Inspectorate found unidentified persons illegally cutting down 14 trees of different species to the point of stopping growth. The experts calculated the damage in the amount of almost UAH 550 thousand.
3. The court ordered a 33-year-old resident of Stryi district, Lviv region, to pay over UAH 900 thousand in damages. In February 2023, he illegally cut down spruce trees in a landscape reserve on the territory of one of the forestries of the Slavske Forestry branch.
4. A resident of Kyiv region was served a notice of suspicion of illegal logging worth over UAH 700 thousand. He organized a group of people who demolished 77 trees (pines, maples and oaks) on the territory of Boyarska ATC in Fastiv district of Kyiv region. The man faces a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 5 to 7 years.
Photo: kobl.gp.gov.ua.
5. Prosecutors served a notice of suspicion to the former director general of Pleso for losses of almost UAH 200 thousand during the cleanup of Lake Holuboye in Vynohradar, Kyiv. The investigation established that in December 2019, the suspect, in prior conspiracy with the director of the contractor, entered into a contract for the cleaning and repair of structures on the lake. Although he realized that the work was not completed in full, he signed acceptance certificates with false information about the completion of all the work.
Read about the most significant environmental violations of the past week in our previous digest.
