Three illegal logging schemes with total damages exceeding UAH 157 million were uncovered in the Odesa region.
This was reported by the press service of the prosecutor's office in the Odesa region.
Law enforcement officers sent three criminal cases to court against 10 people who were involved in large-scale logging in the Odesa region, including three employees of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine.”
According to the investigation, the director of the Ananyiv Forestry Enterprise illegally issued a number of logging permits. By doing so, he allowed outsiders to cut down nearly 1,300 trees in the Kuyalnik National Park. Inspectors estimated the damage to the state at over UAH 150 million.
Photo: od.gp.gov.ua
The official faces punishment under Part 3 of Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for abuse of office (imprisonment for 7 to 10 years without the possibility of holding certain positions for up to 3 years).
Illegal activities were also discovered in the Balt Forestry. There, foresters and their accomplices organized mass illegal logging. The total damage to the environment amounted to over UAH 7.4 million.
Photo: od.gp.gov.ua
The suspects are charged under Part 4 of Article 246 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (felling trees, which caused serious consequences). This is punishable by a fine of fifty to one hundred non-taxable minimum incomes, or arrest for up to six months, or imprisonment for up to three years with confiscation of illegally appropriated property.
Photo: od.gp.gov.ua
The prosecutor's office accuses an employee of the Novopetrivsk Forestry of official negligence. His official negligence resulted in the felling of over a hundred trees on the territory of the forestry. The damage to the environment amounted to about UAH 300,000.
Photo: od.gp.gov.ua
The employee faces punishment under Part 1 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (official negligence). The punishment is a fine of between 250 and 500 non-taxable minimum incomes, or correctional labor for up to two years, or restriction of liberty for up to three years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years.
We remind EcoPolitics readers that in the Dnipropetrovsk region, trees were cut down in the Mosty landscape reserve, causing damage to the state in the amount of UAH 6.9 million.
A former official of the forestry enterprise in the Dnipropetrovsk region is accused of illegal tree felling. According to the investigation, in early 2024, the acting director of one of the branches of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” allowed illegal logging in the “Mosty” landscape reserve of local importance in the Kamyanskyi district of the Dnipropetrovsk region without special permits.
