Accomplices conducting fake sanitary felling exposed in Zakarpattia region

The State Bureau of Investigation has served a notice of suspicion to a forester of the Volovets Forestry Enterprise and the head of the Lviv Forestry Protection Department, who in 2021 destroyed 289 healthy trees of various species in Mukachevo district under the guise of sanitary felling.

This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation and the Transcarpathian Regional Prosecutor's Office.

According to the investigation, the scheme was quite typical: a forester told the management that pests had allegedly infested one of the areas on the territory of the forestry, causing the plants to get sick and die. In fact, the trees were quite healthy and posed no threat to the surrounding forest.

A commission was created in the forest farm to examine the trees on the specified site. She had to establish whether the wood is really damaged and there is a need for sanitary felling.

The first violation was that the inspection of the plot was carried out in February, although according to the rules, the forest should have been surveyed in the leaf season to determine whether pests affected the trunk and leaves.

A forest pathologist, who was a member of the commission, in collusion with the forester, convinced other members of the commission to write in the inspection report that the wood was affected by diseases and pests. Based on the inspection materials, the forest farm received a logging ticket and conducted a sanitary felling.

Environmental damage from the demolition of 289 healthy trees of various species amounted to over UAH 2.1 million.

The forester and the forest pathologist were informed of the suspicion of abuse of official position, committed by a group of persons, which caused serious consequences (Part 1 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of deprivation of liberty for a term of up to 6 years.

A petition has also been filed to impose preventive measures on the suspect and suspend him from duty.

The other day, EcoPolitic reported that in the Mykolayiv region will judge a law enforcement officer who, together with accomplices, organized the illegal felling of trees.

We also told that, according to experts, one third of the wood in Ukraine is harvested illegal