An inspection is planned in the Pashkivets Forestry in Transcarpathia in the coming days. Environmental activists are convinced that the real purpose of the inspections is to prepare the documentary basis for clear-cutting.
The Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group (UNCG) adds that this involves the destruction of forest areas in the section where the power line to the infamous Runa mountain pasture is to be built.
"We call on the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" and the Western Interregional Forestry and Hunting Administration to cancel these surveys until the EIA procedure is completed!" – the UNCG states.
Method of pressure on the Ministry of Economy
In the first ten days of November, parliamentary committees on environmental policy and European integration held an off-site meeting in Zakarpattia specifically on the issue of wind farm construction in the mountains. The need to comply with legislation and maintain ecological balance was a recurring theme of the discussions.
Therefore, according to environmental activists, surveying the site, and subsequently cutting down the forest and constructing the power line, is simply another lever of influence on the relevant ministry.
“This is yet another method of pressuring the Ministry of Economy, which must determine whether wind turbine construction on Runa is permissible within the EIA procedure. Because, supposedly, ‘well, we have already built the foundations, laid the power lines, invested money – so how can we not obtain a positive conclusion now?’” the conservation group’s statement reads.
The fight to save Runa
Local residents, together with environmentalists and activists, have been trying to defend the future of the mountain pasture since early 2024. In February, the community announced that the hearings had effectively collapsed. At the hearings, the developer's representatives made virtually no mention of the comments they had received from the community.
After that, foundation construction began without an EIA and the community started its fight to stop the destruction of Carpathian relict forests. For the destruction of the virgin forest in the ‘Shypit’ forestry, a criminal case was even opened. However, the State Ecological Inspectorate did not find any violations on Polonyna Runa, and the Zakarpattia District court refused to protect the mountain forests from the construction of wind farms, siding with the developer.
Recently, it became known that the last section of Polonyna Runa not yet reached by the “Wind Parks” will also be affected. Seven wind turbines are planned for construction here, and the EIA procedure has already started.
