The most damaging crimes this week involve the illegal exploitation of mineral resources. However, illegal logging—in which forestry officials are implicated—as well as industrial land pollution have also caused significant harm to the environment.
EcoPolitics has prepared its traditional digest of crimes against Ukraine’s natural environment for its readers. Information for the period from April 11 to 17 was obtained from open sources—publications by the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutor’s offices, the State Bureau of Investigations, and the State Environmental Inspection.
Illegal use of subsurface resources
A high-level conspiracy resulted in environmental damage exceeding 182 million UAH. This involves the illegal extraction of 18,000 m³ of sand from the seabed in the waters of the Ust-Dunaysk seaport. Among the organizers: two directors of transport companies, the mayor of a city in the Odesa region, a company director, a civil engineer, and a state registrar. The conspiracy, with the help of accomplices, allowed sand to be stolen “for free” from the riverbed to build a port terminal. A number of auxiliary structures were erected—four rear mooring piers and reinforced concrete slabs—and utility networks, pipelines, and other terminal infrastructure were installed. This week, the prosecutor’s office referred the case to court.
Source: Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office
Sand was extracted on agricultural land in Zhytomyr region. The court has received an indictment against two managers and a co-owner of a business entity. Without any permits, using the company’s special equipment, they extracted over 68,000 m3 of sand. Damages exceeded UAH 70 million.
Source: Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor's Office
In Rivne region, a building materials plant established an illegal quarry on a leased plot. Loamy sand was extracted from an area of 1.3 ha using special equipment and transported to the plant’s premises. The plant director will stand trial for the crime, which resulted in damages of UAH 1.6 million.
Ownership of valuable land
More than 72 ha of the "Priorylskyi" landscape reserve ended up being leased to legal entities. The crime was based on forged documents. The prosecution ensured through the court the return of these valuable protected areas to state ownership.
Source: Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor's Office
Forests were leased as agricultural land in Rivne region. This concerns 18.6 ha that, based on an erroneous decision by the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre, the local council leased to a local resident. The prosecution succeeded in proving the illegality of the land transfer.
Апеляційний суд у Києві не пристав на аргументи забудовника та upheld the retention of two plots of land with a total area of 1 ha within the "Protasiv Yar" nature reserve. For more details, see the article by EcoPolitics.
One of the city councils in Khmelnytsky region unlawfully transferred 86 ha of water resources, including state-owned facilities, into municipal ownership. The prosecutor's office succeeded in having this illegal decision reversed.
Destruction of trees
The management of a military forestry enterprise in Zakarpattia region orchestrated illegal logging of valuable tree species, distributing them through affiliated companies. The scheme involved the director of SE "Uzhgorod Military Forestry", the chief forester, and the company's engineer. The officials issued permits for the felling of trees that were not even within the designated forestry boundaries. Environmental damages exceeded 1.5 million UAH. The investigation is ongoing.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
Entire forest areas were left unattended, resulting in losses of nearly 2.7 million UAH. The official negligence of the acting forester of Rozhynske forestry enterprise, KP "Kosiv District Enterprise 'Raiagrolis'" led to mass spruce cutting within a nature reserve. The official could face up to five years in prison.
Source: Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Prosecutor's Office
Again, due to the arbitrariness of “black loggers”, a land user will be forced to pay. This time it concerns the Carpathian National Park, since the permanent forest user “failed to notice” the felling of valuable trees amounting to nearly 1 million UAH.
Pollution
Wastewater from an industrial enterprise caused soil degradation over an area of more than 18,000 m2. The spill occurred in 2023, and this week the prosecutor's office announced the completion of the pre-trial investigation regarding the director of one of the state enterprise's divisions who allowed this environmental disaster. The damage to the environment exceeded 28 million UAH. EcoPolitics previously reported on this case.
You can find the environmental crimes digest for last week at this link.
