Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation have served a notice of suspicion to the former chief forester and first deputy director of the Beregomet Forestry and Hunting Enterprise for organizing illegal felling of trees in the Vyzhnytskyi National Nature Park (NNP) in Chernivtsi region. The official's abuse of power caused environmental damage worth UAH 1.7 million.
This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation.
The said official issued a logging ticket for sanitary felling of trees in the Berehomet forestry, which is part of the Vyzhnytskyi National Park. In doing so, he violated the Law of Ukraine "On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine" by failing to coordinate the limits with the Ministry of Environment of Ukraine and to obtain permission from the regional state administration. As a result, 700 beech, spruce, birch, fir, and other trees were illegally cut down on more than 4 hectares of the nature reserve fund.
Photo: State Bureau of Investigation
The DBR employees informed the official about the suspicion of exceeding official powers, which caused serious consequences (Part 3 of Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The sanction of this article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years.
Photo: State Bureau of Investigation
Currently, the question of selecting a preventive measure for the suspect and imposing an arrest on the property is being resolved to ensure further compensation for the damage caused to the state.
The other day, EcoPolitic wrote about a similar case also in Bukovina. The head of one of the departments of the "Cheremosky" National Nature Park in the Chernivtsi region permitted illegal felling of trees during the construction of roads, which caused the state losses of UAH 7.2 million.
