Illegal sand mining in the Zhytomyr and Dnipropetrovsk regions has become the most damaging to the environment. However, the type of crimes that law enforcement agencies record and investigate most often remains unchanged. This is the illegal destruction of Ukrainian forests, most often by those who are supposed to protect them.
EcoPolitic has prepared a digest of environmental crimes for the period from January 31 to February 6. The information for the materials comes from official reports from the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutor's offices, the State Environmental Inspection and its branches, and the State Bureau of Investigations.
Prohibited subsoil
An entrepreneur from the Zhytomyr region illegally extracted sand worth UAH 2.5 billion. The director of a local mining asset decided to go beyond the limits of the existing special permit. As a result of his actions in circumventing the law, 113,000 cubic meters of raw materials were extracted from the ground. The charges have been referred to court. The man is accused of illegally extracting minerals using his official position, which caused serious consequences.
Source: Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor's Office
Instead of developing a reservoir, a resident of Dnipropetrovsk region opted for sand extraction. The director of an enterprise there will face trial for organizing an illegal pit on his own plot. The man extracted 13,000 cubic meters of sand and sold it through controlled companies. The losses reached UAH 290 million.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
Land matters
Near Kyiv, a resident of Donetsk region appropriated nearly 1 hectare of Irpin forestry land using forged documents. Other actors, including a land surveyor engineer from Zakarpattia, aided in the scheme. The plot was later sold for UAH 8 million for the construction of apartment buildings. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.
In the Holosiivskyi National Park in Kyiv, members of a gardening cooperative seized over 3 hectares in the Haiok tract. There, they illegally built 33 cottages and registered ownership through falsified documents. The prosecutor’s office is now fighting to return the land to communal ownership and have the structures removed. The courts have already satisfied 10 out of 33 lawsuits.
Another case of illegal construction has been recorded in Kyiv, also on valuable natural land. Back in 2002, a foreign legal entity purchased a 206 sq. m. rehabilitation center building on Trukhaniv Island. However, this building was later demolished and a 1,000 sq. m residential property was built without permission. The building was then illegally registered. The prosecutor's office notes that Trukhaniv Island is reserved for conservation and construction is prohibited there.
There are many picturesque places in Zakarpattia. Therefore, local officials are not ashamed to appropriate them or earn money from their illegal transfer to third parties. For example, a former official of the Berehove City Council submitted a project for consideration at a session, according to which 0.4 hectares of land would be transferred to private ownership. The official knew for certain that part of this plot was within the forest fund. In Vynogradiv, a current city council deputy arbitrarily occupied a plot that also contains part of the forest fund. The man built an office there and organized gravel grinding.
Source: Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor's Office
Illegal logging of trees
“The 'heroes' in this category of crimes, as is often the case, are representatives of the branches of the State Enterprise 'Forests of Ukraine'.” EcoPolicy reported how the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) uncovered their involvement in three separate crimes at once. In the Zhytomyr region, a scheme involving employees from the Baranivske Forestries of the “Capital Forest Office” branch caused the state damage of 1.3 million UAH. In the Rivne region, a former head of the Dubno forestry enterprise, a branch of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine,” inflicted losses of 2.7 million UAH through the illegal sale of unprocessed timber. In the Zakarpattia region, the former head of the Berehove forestry branch caused damages amounting to 1.6 million UAH due to unauthorized felling of oaks.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
The chief forester of the State Enterprise “Deliatyn Forestry” in Ivano-Frankivsk region was also implicated. The official issued four felling permits for clear-cutting sparse forest stands. The official “ignored” the fact that such actions violated the law. Due to his official negligence, 775 trees in the Dorivske and Liubizhnianske forestries were destroyed. The state sustained losses of over 3.3 million UAH. The indictment is already in court, and the forester could face up to five years of imprisonment.
80-year-old oaks were felled in the Slovychansky Ridge nature reserve in Zhytomyr region. The damage totaled nearly 2 million UAH. By court order, the permanent forestry user, who failed to properly protect the trees, must compensate for these losses.
Another case of illegal logging also took place in Zhytomyr region. There, a local entrepreneur organized the destruction of trees with further processing and sale of the raw materials, involving a forester and a forest manager from the local forestry enterprise in the scheme. The organizer selected a location for the crime that was as convenient as possible-near his own sawmill. The individuals caused losses of 1.4 million UAH and have already been informed of their suspicion.
Source: Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor's Office
An employee of the State Food and Consumer Service in the Khmelnytskyi region falsified information about timber so that it could be exported without hindrance. Without any expert analysis, the man entered data into automated systems indicating that the raw materials allegedly met customs requirements. The official was notified of the suspicion.
Environmental pollution and degradation
The head of an agricultural enterprise in the Poltava region decided to store livestock waste on the territory of one of the communities in the Myrhorod district. Without permits and without preparing the site, he ordered employees to take by-products there. As a result, harmful substances accumulated in the soil, and the community suffered losses of almost UAH 1 million.
Source: Poltava Regional Prosecutor's Office
In Mykolaiv region, the head of one of the farms illegally removed a layer of fertile soil on an area of over 8 hectares to build a pond. As a result, the land can no longer be used for agriculture— the pit filled with water and the environmental conditions in the area deteriorated. The man faces up to five years in prison.
You can find last week's digest of crimes against Ukrainian nature at this link.
