Over a year and a half – in 2025 and the first half of 2026 – the Polissia Forest Office of SE "Forests of Ukraine" signed contracts worth over 2.4 billion UAH with contractors that were supposed to carry out logging. This includes about 1.3 billion UAH in Rivne Oblast and 1.1 billion UAH in Volyn Oblast. Most of the contracts went to companies that are by no means outsiders. The leader in Volyn is a firm owned by an oblast council member, while in Rivne Oblast it is a company close to the region's former chief forester.
This was reported by the "Syla Pravdy" Centre for Investigative Journalism, which analysed state forestry procurement.
The services are procured through the Prozorro system. Participants are usually not required to confirm their financial standing or experience, but they must provide information on their staff and material and technical resources.
Source: "Syla Pravdy"
Top forestry contractors in Volyn
During this period, the total value of contractor service agreements amounted to 1.1 billion UAH.
A third of all funds, over 342 million UAH, went to "DOF Arbo", which belongs to the family of Volyn Oblast Council member Anatolii Busko. However, the company did not receive about 25% of this amount, as the forest office terminated some of the contracts at the end of 2025. The company has been engaged in sawmilling and planing since 2002.
Second by value of orders was "Brenvel", which has been operating since 2009. The Polissia Forest Office signed contracts with it worth 157.5 million UAH. The firm is owned by Kyiv resident Nataliia Kozak and managed by Serhii Androsiuk from Kovel. He is currently on trial for inflating prices for heat supply to an educational institution.
The "silver" and contracts worth 150.4 million UAH went to "Volma". However, the firm did not receive about half of this amount because contracts were terminated at the end of 2025. Its director and owner is Kovel resident Oleksandr Kinder.
Notably, "Volma" and "Brenvel" share production sites in Kovel. Journalists link the companies to the former head of the State Forest Resources Agency Khrystyna Yushkevych and her adviser Andrii Tyshchenko, who are now married and own more than one forestry business in Volyn.
Source: "Syla Pravdy"
"Favourite" contractors in Rivne Oblast
In this region, the branch of SE "Forests of Ukraine" concluded logging contracts worth over 1.3 billion UAH.
The undisputed leader in state orders was "Flesh – 2020" LLC, with contracts worth 368.7 million UAH. Due to terminated contracts, the company did not receive about 10% of this amount. The firm is owned by Sarny City Council member Borys Tsviakh. Until 2021, he was a co-owner of the woodworking company "Kaisholts". Another co-owner was Tetiana Sukhovych, the wife of Vitalii Sukhovych. He previously served as chief forester of Rivne Oblast and stood trial for illicit enrichment.
Serhii Avramyshyn was also previously among the co-owners of "Flesh – 2020" LLC. He owns the land on which "Kaisholts" is located; Tetiana Sukhovych is now its sole owner.
The journalists tried to find out whether such a background helps the company's managers win state contracts. However, they were unable to speak with the director.
In second place, with contracts worth over 359 million UAH, is "Kostopil Lisprom Invest" LLC, established only in 2023. One of its former owners, Petro Bulat, later withdrew from its founders. He became a co-owner of the "Vidrodzhennia" hunting farm, and his partner there is the former chief forester of Volyn, Bohdan Kolisnyk.
Third by value of orders was "Listrans VV" LLC. It received contracts worth more than 95 million UAH, but due to terminated agreements, over 40% of these funds were never paid out.
Source: "Syla Pravdy"
Newly established companies and firms of "insiders"
"Syla Pravdy" claims that the 2.4 billion UAH allocated by the foresters became a source of income for a small number of firms. Quite often they have direct or indirect ties to deputies and officials of the forestry sector.
Another questionable point is contracts with newly established companies.
"At least four recipients of logging service contracts in Rivne Oblast worth a quarter of a billion hryvnias were registered only in 2025 or early 2026, that is, a few months before receiving the orders," the investigators note.
The journalists also found that 164 of 212 lots received a bid from only one participant, meaning there was no healthy competition at the auctions. Such contracts cost the state 1.86 billion UAH, or 76% of all concluded contracts. The situation is most telling in Volyn, where 94 of 99 tenders were held without competitors. Not a single auction in a year and a half had more than two participants.
Source: "Syla Pravdy"
The absence of requirements to confirm experience or financial standing meant that contracts worth millions of hryvnias were won by companies with minimal staff and practically no track record in the sector.
Source: "Syla Pravdy"
As a reminder, the State Bureau of Investigation is conducting a large-scale operation to combat corruption in the forestry sector. In the first week, losses of almost 66 million UAH were established and 11 people were detained.
Earlier, state auditors uncovered large-scale violations at SE "Forests of Ukraine". A number of contractors turned out to be newly established companies without staff, and some were in fact phantom firms, as they could not be found at their registered addresses.
In 2025 alone, crimes committed by forestry officials caused the state losses of 546 million UAH.
