Investigators from the State Bureau of Investigations believed that Anatoliy Yarmolyuk, the former director of the “Kivertsi Forestry” branch of the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”, had enriched himself unlawfully. Although his income was several times lower, his family had acquired assets worth over 27 million hryvnias — ranging from property to cars. However, the Main Investigative Directorate of the SBI nevertheless closed the criminal case.
This was reported by the ‘Syla Pravdy’ Centre for Investigative Journalism.
The difference between income and wealth
The case against the former forestry official was opened back in 2024. The investigators’ theory was that the assets acquired by Anatoliy Yarmolyuk during his five years in senior positions in the forestry sector were worth considerably more than he could have afforded. The State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) suspected that the former forestry enterprise director had registered everything in the names of his relatives, who could not have afforded such purchases on their official incomes.
Officially, Yarmolyuk’s close relatives — his wife, mother, mother-in-law and father-in-law — received 7.4 million hryvnias between January 1998 and March 2024. However, the assets they acquired in the last four years alone were worth considerably more — over 27 million hryvnias. These include the following:
a 270 m2 house in the village of Tarasove near Lutsk. The property, worth UAH 20 million, is registered to Yarmolyuk's wife, Mariya. For years, the official declared the house as unfinished;
- an apartment belonging to his mother;
- a house belonging to his father-in-law;
- an apartment and parking space in the Yarovytsya residential complex in Lutsk, registered to a relative;
- several land plots;
- vehicles including a Toyota Land Cruiser 200, a Volkswagen Multivan minivan, and a BMW X3 crossover.
Despite the assets being registered to relatives, Yarmolyuk himself was the one using them. At least, this was the investigators’ version.
However, the case fell apart, since law enforcement officers were unable to find convincing evidence of the former forester’s guilt.
The investigation did not affect the person involved
According to journalists from “Syla Pravdy”, at the end of 2024 the subject left his post as director of the Kivertsi forestry. Nevertheless, he continued to work in the forestry sector.
In his declaration for 2025, Anatoliy Yarmolyuk reported almost UAH 1.9 million in salary from the Polissia Forest Office of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine". Together with his wife’s entrepreneurial income, the family earned UAH 3.7 million over the year. In autumn 2025, the official purchased a new Toyota Land Cruiser Prado for UAH 2.9 million.
EcoPolitic previously reported that, due to discrepancies in the evidence, the court acquitted the former director of the "Tsumanska Pushcha" national park and his associates. They were suspected of illegal logging causing environmental damages amounting to over UAH 16 million.
