Deforestation continues to be one of the most popular and most profitable types of environmental crimes. As usual, the list also includes "juggling" property rights and the functional purpose of land in nature reserves, water reserves, and forest reserves.
EcoPolitics has prepared a digest of crimes against the environment, information about which was made public between December 19 and 26. The sources of the data are the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutor's offices, the State Bureau of Investigation, and the State Environmental Inspection with branches in the regions.
Who owns the land?
Through a scheme involving fake military personnel, a former deputy of the Volyn Regional Council took possession of water fund lands worth over UAH 8.3 million. The man, who is now the head of the enterprise, was assisted by a deputy of the district council and the former head of the regional State Geocadastre. The deputy found military personnel from the Armed Forces of Ukraine who were entitled to receive land plots. Using their data and without the participation of the defenders themselves, an employee of the State Geocadastre registered five plots of land, each with an area of 2 hectares, in the names of the military personnel. After privatization and a series of not-so-legal procedures, the land ended up in the hands of the former deputy. The three people involved face up to six years in prison. The involvement of the military personnel and the state registrar is being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation.
Source: dbr.gov.ua
In Vinnytsia region, an entrepreneur illegally used 605 ha of land within the Ladyzhyn Reservoir boundaries. The individual engaged in fish farming activities without legal rights to the plots, and therefore paid no taxes to the Haisyn city council. The prosecutor’s office succeeded in returning the land to the community.
Hunting grounds instead of the “Dashivskyi” botanical reserve. Due to a series of illegal decisions by the Vinnytsia Regional Council and a branch of State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”, 114 ha of protected land repeatedly ended up in private enterprise use. Ironically, the reserve was used for hunting, which directly contradicts the very purpose of such a protected area. The court upheld the prosecutor’s claim, giving the reserve a chance to return to its original designation.
In Polissia, the Chopovychi village council illegally changed the functional designation of the Irsha riverbanks and leased them out for agricultural production. This put a vital water artery of the region at risk of pollution and riverbank degradation. However, the court sided with the prosecutors and annulled the council’s illegal decision.
More than 84 ha of water and forest fund land were returned to the state by prosecutors in Kyiv region. This concerns an unlawfully registered plot on the bank of the Dnipro in Kozyn, and forests in Boryspil district that were illegally removed from the use of State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”.
Who is felling the trees?
This week, the State Environmental Inspectorate calculated the losses caused by illegal logging in Polissia and Chernihiv regions. The sums are staggering. Due to the destruction of more than 4,000 trees outside the village of Zhaden in Rivne region, the losses amounted to over UAH 9 million. Near the village of Lineia, "black loggers" inflicted environmental damage totaling nearly UAH 17.5 million.
The state suffered losses of nearly UAH 14.5 million due to the activities of the former director of the "Rava-Ruske Forestry" state enterprise in Lviv region. In 2023, the official personally approved and signed permits for tree felling. However, the main issue is that timber harvesting was carried out in prohibited areas. Ukrainian forests lost more than 3,000 trees, and the businessman may face up to ten years in prison. The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has completed the pre-trial investigation, and the indictment is already in court. The official will be tried for abuse of power, which caused severe consequences, as well as for illegal logging in forests.
Source: dbr.gov.ua
An even more intriguing scheme was implemented by the former head of one of the branches of the "Forests of Ukraine" state enterprise in Rivne region. In 2023, the official inflicted losses of UAH 2.7 million on the state enterprise. He unlawfully signed a series of contracts, supplying private companies with nearly 1,000 cubic meters of roundwood delivered directly from plots to sawmills, where the wood was processed into boards and sold even below the cost of the raw material itself. The official faces up to six years in prison.
The frontline Donetsk region received timber at inflated prices. The former head of the "Lyman Forestry" state enterprise is suspected of abuse of office. According to contracts concluded during 2023–2024, the enterprise purchased about 3,000 cubic meters of timber from a private company at state expense for an amount that exceeded the market price by UAH 1.5 million. The former official faces up to six years in prison.
Who is polluting the Black Sea?
A hostile attack caused an oil spill in the Black Sea in Odesa region. On December 20, attack drones damaged the company’s storage tanks, which later caught fire. Thirteen tanks contained sunflower oil. By December 24, oil slicks were detected on city beaches and in the sea. Sampling and calculation of damages are underway.
Source: od.gp.gov.ua
You can find the previous December digest of environmental crimes at this link.
