Trees worth over UAH 77 million were cut down in the Chernobyl zone

Trees worth over UAH 77 million were cut down in the Chernobyl zone shutterstock.com/ru

Illia Fedun

Illegal tree felling continues to be detected in Kyiv region

In the Chernobyl exclusion zone, the director of a company is accused of cutting down over a thousand trees. The damage is estimated at UAH 77 million.

This was reported by the press service of the prosecutor's office in the Kyiv region.

According to the investigation, under a contract with PJSC “NPC Ukrenergo,” the contractor undertook to independently obtain all the necessary permits to carry out work on clearing power lines in the exclusion zone. At the same time, the director of the company, in violation of the terms of the contract and without the appropriate permits, organized the illegal felling of 1,023 trees.

kobl.gp.gov.ua/ua

Photo: kobl.gp.gov.ua/ua

The Vyshgorod District Police are currently investigating the crime. According to Article 246 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, illegal logging on a particularly large scale is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 5 to 10 years with the possibility of confiscation of property.

As EcoPolitic reported earlier, during October-November 2023, accomplices illegally cut down trees in the Volyn forests and transported them to a sawmill controlled by the director for further processing. The perpetrators caused damage to the environment amounting to more than UAH 7.3 million.

Related
Soot and stench from a paper mill: people in Malyn are calling for an investigation into the business
Soot and stench from a paper mill: people in Malyn are calling for an investigation into the business

The commission’s representatives were not allowed to inspect the company’s premises

How polluted is the air in the capital and major cities of Ukraine on 14 September?
How polluted is the air in the capital and major cities of Ukraine on 14 September?

The air in Dnipro is the most hazardous – dust levels there are three times higher than normal

Air quality in Kyiv and regional centres across Ukraine on the morning of 11 September
Air quality in Kyiv and regional centres across Ukraine on the morning of 11 September

The highest levels of harmful dust have been recorded in Rivne and Chernivtsi, which have overtaken Zaporizhzhia