Untreated wastewater from industrial enterprises pollutes rivers, entrepreneurs steal rare minerals from the state, and corruption schemes by officials destroy forests—Ukraine's nature can be harmed in many different ways. Among the criminals are many heads of regional divisions of state structures, in particular representatives of the forestry enterprises of the State Forestry Agency of Ukraine, the State Forestry Agency, and the State Geocadastre.
EcoPolitic has prepared a digest of violations that became known between February 28 and March 6. The material uses information from official open sources – the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutor's offices, as well as the State Bureau of Investigations.
Illegal use of subsoil resources
Zeolite extraction outside the special permit area. There is only one deposit of this mineral in Ukraine, and even there, the company managed to break the law. The director is under suspicion—under his leadership, zeolite was mined on 3 hectares of the deposit outside the permitted area for three years. The work was carried out on a large scale, with mining explosions and the involvement of contractors. In total, almost 9,000 tons of the mineral were illegally extracted from the subsoil. The state suffered losses of more than UAH 11 million.
Source: Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor’s Office
Illegal gravel quarry. A resident of the Chernivtsi district organized an open pit on plots designated for residential construction. Overall, his activities caused state losses amounting to 15 million UAH. The indictment has been sent to court.
Source: Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor’s Office
Green energy fraud
An original scheme was organized by an official from one of the district state administrations in Kirovohrad region. Abusing his official position, he initiated the issuance of construction passports for residential houses. However, instead of actual residences, buildings not intended for living were constructed. Still, their classification as residential properties allowed the receipt of payments under the “green” tariff for energy generated by solar panels installed on these structures. Over the course of three years, more than 17.3 million UAH in budget funds designated as financial support for energy production were transferred to the organizer’s accounts.
The man faces up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Land disputes
Hunting grounds for $25,000. In Odesa region, the head of the Southern Interregional Directorate of Forestry and Hunting of the State Forest Resources Agency will be tried. The official demanded money from the regional organization of the Ukrainian Association of Hunters and Fishermen, promising in return to “facilitate” the expansion of their hunting grounds by 13,000 ha. The pre-trial investigation has been completed. The man faces up to five years in prison.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
Wheat instead of forest. In the Mykolaiv region, the director of the "Veselynivske Forestry Enterprise" of SE "Forests of Ukraine" decided to sow grain on a plot of land entrusted to him instead of restoring the forest. He engaged forestry workers for land cultivation and sowing operations. Due to official negligence that resulted in severe consequences, the man could face up to five years in prison.
Built a hotel on forest fund land. In the Chuhuiv district of Kharkiv region, a man illegally occupied a plot of land that is used by SE "Forests of Ukraine". In a picturesque location, he built a three-story structure with an area of about 1,200 m².
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
Valuable lands "accidentally" change their designated use and end up in other hands – municipal or private. Here are a few examples from the past week:
- Over 1.5 ha of land within the Dragobrat resort were transferred to private ownership. These lands became agricultural instead of forestry thanks to a former head of the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre (StateGeoCadastre) in the Zakarpattia region. The indictment against the official is already before the court; she could face three to six years in prison.
- Due to the negligence of a former state registrar of the StateGeoCadastre, 44.5 ha within the "Synevyr" national park became "agricultural land." The state lost ownership of a valuable area worth more than UAH 17 million. Instead, it was appropriated by the Kolochava village council, where the ex-registrar now works. The man has been served a notice of suspicion.
- Using a forged state document, a resident of the Kosiv community registered almost 1 ha within the "Hutsulshchyna" National Park in Ivano-Frankivsk region in his name. The land was never removed from the nature reserve fund; however, one of the departments of StateGeoCadastre in the Sumy region registered it to the citizen.
- 20 parcels of forest fund near Bukovel were returned to state ownership. Previously, they became private property through forged documents, and subsequently, there were plans to clear the forests and build cottage towns with infrastructure.
- Almost 100 ha of water fund land were leased for fishery purposes on a non-competitive basis. Prosecutors ensured that a plot worth UAH 2 million was returned to the community of Stryi district, Lviv region.
To prevent such situations, prosecutors are forced to go to court to require authorities to establish boundaries of protected areas with the installation of informational signs on the ground. For example, following a court order, such works were finally carried out for the Kaniv Nature Reserve covering 6.6 ha.
Forest cases
Знищення понад 6200 дерев через фіктивні дані. An indictment has been submitted to the court against three officials of the state enterprise "Berezhanyrayagrolis" in Ternopil region – the director, chief forester, and electronic inventory system administrator. Due to their negligent handling of documents, state losses exceeded 56.9 million UAH. EcoPolityka has earlier provided more details about the crime.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
Sanitary fellings without permits. The former director of the “Dnipro Forestry Branch” of SE “Forests of Ukraine” and his subordinate will stand trial for illegal logging. The men facilitated the destruction of trees in a nature reserve on the territory of the Obukhiv Forestry, causing over 22 million UAH in damage to the state. They prepared documents for conducting sanitary felling without permits for the special use of forest resources. The officials could face up to ten years in prison.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
Organized logging scheme causing nearly 13 million UAH in damage. The former head of SE “Hrozynske” in Zhytomyr region involved the head of forestry and the head of a private company in the scheme. Using a forged logging ticket, more than 2,300 trees were felled as a result of criminal actions. The pre-trial investigation is complete, and the indictment has already been submitted to the court.
Source: Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor's Office
Money for felling without actual felling. A forester and a forest ranger of one of the “Forests of Ukraine” enterprises in Kyiv region have been accused of document forgery with intent to misappropriate property. The men prepared documents for supposedly completed fellings and tried to obtain payment from the accounting department for work never done by contractors. The indictment is already in the court. The men may face up to eight years in prison. “Overlooked” felling causing 5 million UAH in damages. An indictment has been sent to court against a former forest ranger of the Tsuman Forestry of the “Kivertsi Forestry Enterprise” branch of SE “Forests of Ukraine.” Due to the official's negligence, trees were destroyed, including in the territory of the Tsuman Pushcha National Park.
The deputy head of a village council in one of the communities of Ternopil region allowed tree felling totaling 1.2 million UAH. The official granted permission to clear vegetation without checking whether the cutting area belonged to communal property. The indictment on his actions has been submitted to court.
І good news in this section is that the prosecutor's office managed to protect 35 ha of self-seeded forest in the Volyn region. The court accepted the prosecutors' arguments and obliged the Manevychi Village Council to change the land use designation for these self-forested lands, where trees have been growing for over 45 years. Previously, these lands were classified as agricultural, placing the forest at risk of being felled.
Pollution
Industrial wastewater polluted 18,000 m2 in the Dnipropetrovsk region. This occurred due to inadequate oversight by a director of one of the industrial enterprise’s divisions over production processes. As a result of the chemical contamination of the land, excessive concentrations of chlorides, sulfates, ammonia, and other harmful compounds were recorded. Environmental damages amounted to over 28 million UAH. The man has been served a notice of suspicion.
Source: Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office
Untreated wastewater from a dairy plant flowed into the Kalyus River in Khmelnytskyi region for half a year without obstruction. For this, the director of the dairy processing enterprise will stand trial. The environmental damages amounted to nearly 15 million UAH, and a section of a protected natural area-the Kalyusky Landscape Reserve-was also polluted.
Source: Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor’s Office
Insufficiently treated sewage caused 1.2 million UAH in damages. For this, an employee of the Karlivka division of KP "Poltavavodokanal" will stand trial. He was aware of both the concentration limits of pollutants and the enterprise’s capabilities. However, he still allowed the discharge of overly contaminated water, violating water protection regulations.
Source: Poltava Regional Prosecutor’s Office
Poaching
A deputy-poacher caught fish worth 1 million UAH. A member of one of the local councils illegally fished with nets within the boundaries of the "Khotynskyi" National Park in the Chernivtsi region. Among the catch were specimens of the rare Romanogobio (vyrezub). Charges have already been filed in court.
You can find last week’s digest of environmental crimes from EcoPolitics at this link.
