Salaries of forestry officials in Ukraine exceed those of top European heads of state.
These figures are provided by the Eco Factor Facebook page.
It compares the monthly salaries of European politicians who have done much to protect Ukraine:
- Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – approximately $19,000;
- Petr Pavel, President of the Czech Republic – approximately $14,166;
- Andrzej Duda, President of Poland – approximately $7,500;
- Emanuel Macron, President of France – approximately €14,586.
For comparison, Eco Factor adds that the monthly salary of Pope Leo XIV will be $33,000.
According to Eco Factor, top managers of the Ukrainian forestry industry receive monthly salaries of:
- Yuriy Bolokhovets, CEO of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” – $28,776;
- Ihor Litsur, Executive Director of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” – $28,770;
- Viktor Sakhniuk, director of the Forest Reproductive Systems branch – $18,800;
- Oleksandr Kvatyrko, Operations Director of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” – $16,612.
“We have a question: who allows paying such salaries in a country at war? For what: embezzlement, corruption and fraud? The more violations and criminal cases, the higher the salary?” Eco Factor asks.
What foresters declared in their annual declarations
EcoPolitic has reviewed the 2024 declarations of the 4 mentioned Ukrainian officials. Here are the amounts we found:
- Yuriy Bolokhovets declared UAH 6,649,507 in salary, which is $13,339 in terms of the current dollar exchange rate;
- Ihor Lytskur declared an annual salary income of UAH 14,396,704, equivalent to $28,881;
- Viktor Sakhniuk declared UAH 9,123,265, which is equivalent to $18,302; his place of work and position is Director of the Kyiv Forestry Office of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”;
- Oleksandr Kvatyrko reported an annual salary income of UAH 8,313,524, equivalent to $16,677; his place of work and position is Director of the Polissia Forestry Office of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”.
These amounts are only the official salaries of officials who are often accused of corruption and creating large-scale shadowy schemes for illegal timber sales. For example, according to an investigation conducted by the BlackBox OSINT project, Yurii Bolokhovets, CEO of the Forests of Ukraine, led illegal logging and corruption in the industry. Recently, EcoPolitics reported on the alleged “free accommodation” of this executive in an elite apartment in Kyiv.
Corruption allegations are also regularly made public against lower-level managers. For example, the director of the Polissia Forestry Office, Oleksandr Kvatyryk, is suspected of illegally transferring land and property on the territory of the forestry enterprises under his control to his friends.
Yuriy Yurchuk, the former director of the branch of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine,” was accused of creating a business empire at the expense of the state. Journalists claim that Yaroslav Oliynyk, head of the Berehove Forestry branch of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”, organized a scheme of illegal logging and trade in valuable timber, which brings him hundreds of thousands of hryvnias.
