The approach taken by the regional offices of the state-owned enterprise ‘Forests of Ukraine’ to selecting tender winners is rather peculiar. As it turns out, a ‘constellation’ of companies linked to a single individual can win contracts worth billions for timber harvesting or even building cleaning. Extensive experience is not particularly important for winning either — sole traders, some of whom have been in business for just a few months, easily secure contracts worth millions and bring their relatives into the ‘Forests of Ukraine’ feeding trough.
The publication OBOZ.UA reported on who receives money from the state-owned enterprise.
Contracts worth billions for a single family
Back in July, Alla Basalaeva, head of the State Audit Service of Ukraine, spoke of dubious schemes worth billions of hryvnias operating within ‘Forests of Ukraine’. Among these, she cited the example of a group of 12 legal entities linked to one and the same person — a citizen named Babenko.
“During the audit, the State Audit Service discovered that 11 out of 12 of these companies do not exist at their registered or actual addresses; in other words, they are so-called ‘ghost’ companies. It can be assumed that the majority of the state funds received were subsequently converted into cash,” said Alla Basalaeva.
Journalists suspect that the person in question is Oleksandr Babenko. He is a businessman from Cherkasy, yet his companies win tenders from ‘Forests of Ukraine’ in various regions.
Source: OBOZ.UA
OBOZ.UA provides several examples:
- LLC “Chyhyryn Forest” won tenders totaling UAH 681.4 million. The bulk of the funds came from the Carpathian Forest Office. Babenko established this company at the end of 2023. The share capital is a symbolic UAH 200, and the registration address is a house in Koziatyn, Vinnytsia region.
- LLC “Vilkove” won UAH 38.8 million in tenders just during 2026. The client is the Central Forest Office of SE “Forests of Ukraine.” The company was registered in September 2024 and received no tenders before 2026. One tender covered cleaning services at the Cherkasy forest office. The company submitted information on the employment of 21 cleaners. Journalists found that these are real people, but they work in other regions and have met their employer only once. One of them actually works as a security guard and did not know how he had been formally employed by the company.
- LLC “Lvivlis,” founded only in October 2025, won UAH 637.9 million in tenders. All contracts were concluded with the Carpathian Forest Office.
Journalists discovered several noteworthy facts about this last company. For instance, LLC “Lvivlis” won a contract for UAH 4.6 million for timber harvesting. To do this, the company formally employed four lumberjacks, all of whom received their certificates on the same day.
The company also won tenders for the transportation of timber products. For this, Oleksandr Babenko – the company owner – officially registered as an employee for this position. Conveniently, just before this, he received his truck driver’s license. The timing of this coincided almost exactly with the issuance of chainsaw operator certificates to the lumberjacks.
Source: OBOZ.UA
“In total, the Babenko family has won tenders worth at least UAH 1.5 billion. Interestingly, among the largest suppliers to the 'Carpathian Forestry Office,' the top two positions are held by Babenko's enterprises,” OBOZ.UA reports.
New Sole Proprietors Land Millions in Contracts
During 2025 in Ukraine, 136 new sole proprietorships specializing in logging appeared. Despite operating for a short time, 21 entrepreneurs have already managed to secure government contracts.
This trend continued in 2026. For example, Maria Arovych’s sole proprietorship was established only in January, yet by April the entrepreneur had signed a contract with the 'Carpathian Forestry Office' for UAH 551,800. In June, there was another contract, this time for UAH 826,800.
Arovych’s employee list includes three men – Mykhailo Bursa, Stepan Bursa, and Dmytro Kosyuk. The loggers received their licenses in 2021 and 2023.
Tractor operator Stepan Bursa indicated that he received his qualification at a private company in 2025. He is also registered as a sole proprietor and has won contracts totaling about UAH 2 million. Presumably, his son, 20-year-old Roman Stepanovych Bursa, also established a logging sole proprietorship just this year. Remarkably, he too received UAH 2.4 million from the 'Forests of Ukraine' branch.
However, the record-holder among the newly created sole proprietorships is Halyna Hresko. The 52-year-old entrepreneur, who had not previously been in business, received UAH 44.4 million from the 'Capital Forestry Office' within ten months of registering the sole proprietorship. Without a recommendation letter required for a government tender, the woman obtained one from the director of the forestry office himself, who was also the client for the services.
As previously reported by EcoPolitic, the top three also included 68-year-old Halyna Palamarenko, with orders worth UAH 25.1 million, and 22-year-old Mykola Romanenko, with contracts totaling UAH 12.6 million.
According to anti-corruption media, a scheme involving the fraudulent employment of staff was also discovered in 'Forests of Ukraine'.
