Despite numerous raids and open criminal proceedings, private companies Demetra and Sial have been massively destroying forests on land granted to them for use in the Tsuman Forest National Nature Park in Volyn for five years now.
This was reported by the publication Sila Pravdy.
Law enforcement agencies and environmentalists have been trying to stop these illegal logging operations for several years, but to no avail. On November 28, employees of the Tsuman Forest National Park, together with environmental inspectors, discovered during a raid that the illegal logging recorded in the summer was still continuing.
Фото: sylapravdy.com.
How companies obtained land in the national park
Timber harvesting is in full swing in broad daylight on a state-owned plot of land covering more than 277 hectares, which has been in permanent use by the agricultural limited liability company Demetra since 2000.
In 2010, when the Tsumanska Pushcha National Nature Park was created, this territory became part of the national park. The environmental protection agency says that it agreed with Demetra LLC on the creation of a protected area and issued protective obligations to maintain order and the protected regime on the land provided to the company. But as soon as the self-grown forest on these agricultural lands reached 30 years of age, the company began to cut it down.
Photo: sylapravdy.com.
According to Oleg Vovdyuk, director of Demetra, his company is clearing the area so that it can be used for its intended purpose. The park's management, however, claims that the entrepreneur is ignoring the protected status of the land and often simply does not allow inspectors onto the site to carry out checks. Although the director of the company claims that he is preparing the land for planting, environmentalists note that no crops have been planted there in years. Instead, open logging continues without the appropriate logging permits and authorizations.
Proceedings are opened, but the results are zero
After an inspection in August, the police even opened criminal proceedings under Article 356 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on arbitrariness. As part of this case, judges were asked to seize the land to stop the logging and preserve the forest. However, the Lutsk City District Court and the Volyn Court of Appeals rejected the investigators' request.
Photo: sylapravdy.com.
The situation is similar with Sial LLC, which is also managed by Oleg Vovdyuk. Back in October 2020, the police and environmental inspectors documented illegal logging on plots of land that the company had obtained for long-term paid use. At that time, the dealers illegally cut down 640 oak and alder trees on two plots of the national park with a total area of 1.2 hectares. However, no one has been charged or convicted for this violation in five years.
According to Mykola Kovalchuk, deputy head of the state protection department of the Kivertsi National Nature Park "Tsumanska Pushcha," there are already at least five criminal proceedings against Sial LLC.
Photo: sylapravdy.com.
According to the latest inspections carried out by the Environmental Inspectorate, hundreds of fresh stumps of alder, birch, and oak have been found in the areas. The total amount of damages caused to the state by the actions of the two aforementioned firms has already exceeded UAH 80 million. Since 2021 alone, more than 4,000 trees have been illegally felled on the land controlled by Demetra Agricultural Production Enterprise.
“Today, I was shocked to see how this logging is taking place. Openly, in broad daylight, not hiding at all. In my opinion, the primary questions are for law enforcement agencies. This has been going on for five years already. There are criminal proceedings, but we still have neither a decision to seize the plot nor lawsuits to cancel the registration of this plot, nor any suspicions served to those carrying out these activities. I know there is a new prosecutor in Volyn. In my view, this case will show whether anything will change in the environmental sphere in Volyn,” said environmentalist and head of the analytical department at NGO “Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group” Petro Tiestov.
Last year, EcoPolitic reported that the director of the Kivertsi National Nature Park "Tsumanska Pushcha" was served a notice of suspicion for illegal logging amounting to more than UAH 16.5 million.
