Illegal actions by officials involved in the forestry sector were the basis for 456 investigations in 2025. Criminals are not deterred by the nature conservation status of the land or the high value of the timber. As a result, the total amount of losses uncovered in last year's cases already amounts to UAH 546 million.
This is stated in a report by the State Bureau of Investigations.
Interim results
SBI employees have already detained 24 people involved in the crimes. Another 143 people who participated in the destruction of Ukrainian forests have been named as suspects. Indictments against 144 people have been sent to court.
The state has been reimbursed UAH 7 million for the damage caused. The courts have seized the property of those involved, worth over UAH 105 million.
The most common types of abuse
The SBI analyzed current cases and identified the actions of officials that cost the state the most:
- illegal sale of timber, its transfer under fictitious contracts or at undervalued prices;
- non-transparent contract conclusion with contractors;
- violations during timber material auctions;
- illegal sanitary logging of trees.
Crimes do not always occur through the sole involvement of a particular official. The nature of the abuse often presumes collusion among those involved. Top-level forestry officials frequently engaged in systemic abuse of their powers.
Source: dbr.gov.ua
Revealing examples that demonstrate the scale
Abuses in the forestry sector reach the highest levels of office. In the summer, SBI specialists detained the head of "Forests of Ukraine" SE on suspicion of illegal enrichment of almost 8 million UAH. Only in 2021, this official acquired luxury real estate in the city center, land plots, and other valuable assets.
The SBI uncovered a large-scale timber theft scheme involving 13 suspects. The participants included officials from the "Forest Analytical Innovation Center" SE and regional forestry departments of "Forests of Ukraine" SE.
Losses amounting to 257 million UAH were caused by predatory logging in the Hutsulshchyna National Park in Ivano-Frankivsk region. The criminal group included officials from the Kuty Forestry Enterprise. This year, the SBI completed its investigation in this case.
Illegal logging is a crime widespread in all regions with forests, but the SBI pays particular attention to Zakarpattia. During 2025, several large-scale abuses were uncovered there, such as the transfer of protected lands in Uzhhorod into private ownership by officials from the State Land Agency, the negligence of a Lazeshchyna forestry official that cost the state over 55.8 million UAH, as well as the cover-up of illegal oak timber sales by a deputy of the regional council.
Source: dbr.gov.ua
Crimes related to illegal logging appear in the weekly digest of environmental violations from EcoPolitic.
You can review the results of the work conducted by the prosecutor’s offices and the State Environmental Inspectorate last week at this link.
