Major General of Police Oleg Salo has joined the ranks of officials at the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”. He has no connection whatsoever to the forestry sector; however, according to some reports, he was closely linked to Viktor Yanukovych’s team and has a history of internal investigations relating to abuses and fraud.
According to MP Olga Vasilevska-Smaglyuk, Oleg Salo has taken up the post of adviser at the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”, but will in fact be acting as a “supervisor”.
The MP raised concerns about this questionable appointment with Oleksii Sobolev, Minister for the Economy, Environment and Agriculture. Having received no response, she repeated her appeal publicly on Facebook. However, as of 9 July, there had been no updates regarding the ministry’s response.
“The forestry sector – as the president said, is an area in need of cleansing from abuses, not an increase in corruption and misappropriation through the deployment of ‘experienced personnel.’ And by the way, according to the Forest Code of Ukraine, management of the forestry sector must be carried out by professionals with relevant education and appropriate experience. Not by a police general from Yanukovych’s circle, who has no relation to forestry,” – emphasized the MP.
A wide range of accusations
During Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency, Oleh Salo managed to serve as head of the Lviv Regional State Administration. According to biographical data, he was appointed to this post in October 2013 and resigned in January 2014, although he later demanded that his resignation letter be declared invalid.
However, even earlier, the official headed the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Lviv region, and after a break, – in the Rivne region.
According to the analytical agency Pogliad, as early as 2003 the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Combating Organized Crime and Corruption demanded Salo’s dismissal from law enforcement agencies and the cancellation of the orders for his appointments. He was accused of incidents under various articles of the Criminal Code. Among these charges were:
- instances of official forgery and abuse of authority;
- use of special certificates that granted illegal advantages to certain individuals on Ukrainian roads;
- suspicions of document falsification for the early acquisition of special ranks.
At the same time, journalists have repeatedly documented the rather luxurious lifestyle of the official. In particular, there were reports of his use of a luxury car worth $100,000.
It should be recalled that at the end of April, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced upcoming changes in the management of Ukraine’s forestry sector. The head of state cited critical problems in the sector and the protection of the Carpathians as the reasons.
The former head of “Forests of Ukraine”, Yurii Bolokhovets, was later dismissed. From July 1, the enterprise has been headed by former Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Zubovych, who will serve as acting CEO of the SE until a competition for the position is held.
Also, as of 1 July, Viktor Smal, the head of the State Agency for Forest Resources, was suspended from his duties. Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against him. However, the official reasons are unknown.
According to anti-corruption media reports, Viktor Smal and Yuriy Bolokhovets are implicated in a State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) probe into fictitious employment in the forestry sector.
Ukraine’s forestry sector is a constant source of corruption scandals and cases of environmental crime. EcoPolitics regularly highlights these in its digest of environmental violations. The ‘most common’ offence is illegal logging, in which officials from ‘Forests of Ukraine’ are often implicated as organisers.
That said, nature also suffers as a result of their failure to properly fulfil their official duties. EcoPolitics recently published a report on the fines running into millions that the state-owned enterprise is forced to pay due to the negligence of its staff.
