Ukrainian nature continues to suffer from deforestation, poaching, pollution, and illegal use of mineral resources. At the same time, valuable land is being misused, either through mistake or deliberate criminal intent.
EcoPolitic has prepared an overview of crimes against the Ukrainian environment that became known between February 21 and 27. Open data from the Office of the Prosecutor General and its regional divisions, the State Bureau of Investigations, and the State Environmental Inspection were used to prepare this material.
The struggle for land
Protected lands ended up in the hands of hunters. In the Vinnytsia region, the prosecutor's office appealed to the court to invalidate lease agreements for 16.6 ha of land. These plots are part of the Baglayovi Levada landscape reserve, but Vinoblagrolis and the Central-Western Department of Forestry and Hunting Management transferred the land to a private enterprise for hunting management activities.
Illegal recreation facility on the bank of the Dnipro. The court found guilty a resident of the Kirovohrad region for unauthorized occupation of a plot of water fund land on the Kremenchuk Reservoir. The man built residential houses and utility buildings there, using part of the property for commercial activities. The offender received a real sentence – three years of imprisonment, along with an order to return the land and demolish the illegally constructed buildings.
Protected lands with a geological monument were returned. Prosecutors in the Ternopil region achieved the return to state ownership of 8 ha of land in the Dniester Canyon National Park. Previously, the designation of the plot was illegally changed to forestry use, handed over to communal ownership, and later given for permanent use to the Borshchivskyi Kommunalnyk municipal company.
Deforestation
Both deforestation and illegal land use – the acting director of the Biloozerskyi National Park was served suspicion. Due to his negligence, illegal logging took place in the protected zone, causing damages amounting to over UAH 4 million. In addition, law enforcement officers found illegal plantings of rapeseed and soybeans on over 20 ha of the national park. Losses from this crime exceed UAH 50 million.
Other illegal logging activities were also allowed by officials in the same national park. Three inspectors responsible for protecting the nature reserve fund were charged with official negligence. They failed to properly guard the entrusted territories, allowing unknown individuals to cut down trees in the reserve, causing environmental damages of almost UAH 7 million. The inspectors may face up to 5 years of imprisonment.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
Destruction of trees due to official negligence. The forest master of the Tsumansky Forestry Branch of the Kivertsky Forestry Enterprise of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" is suspected of this crime. Without being designated for felling and without the issuance of logging permits, more than 70 valuable trees, some with a diameter of over 90 cm, "disappeared" from the forestry. Some of them grew in a protected area. The damage to the state amounted to more than UAH 5 million, and the official could face up to 5 years in prison.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
Due to inadequate forest protection, the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" has to pay over 3 million UAH. This concerns compensation for damages caused by logging in the territory of the Kosmatske forestry, a branch of the Kuty Forestry Enterprise. Prosecutors have filed a lawsuit in court.
Illegal use of subsoil resources
Illegal extraction of minerals in a protected area. For this double violation, two brothers from the village of Fanchykovo in Zakarpattia region will stand trial. They have already been charged. Within the confines of the "Prytysianskyi" landscape park, they excavated a sand and gravel mixture. The raw materials were transported and stored for further sale.
Source: Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor’s Office
Poaching
Subscriptions for illegal fishing. An indictment against the head of the State Fisheries Agency in Ivano-Frankivsk region has already been referred to court. Earlier, law enforcement officers discovered that the official would first confiscate the vehicles and gear from poachers and then return them provided the offenders took out a "monthly subscription" for illegal fishing in the waters of the Burshtyn Reservoir. The man faces up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
Fishing in a national park. An indictment has been filed in court against a resident of Khmelnytsky region who illegally caught fish worth 1.5 million UAH within the national park "Podilski Tovtry". The man was fishing during the spawning period, which is prohibited, and also caught the red-listed vimba bream.
Fishing in the "Sulynskyi" reserve caused losses exceeding 2 million UAH. Inspectors from the State Environmental Inspectorate together with officers from the Water Bodies Service Unit spotted two men with 150 kg of fish. The violation has already been entered into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations.
Source: Central District State Environmental Inspectorate
Environmental pollution
An oil product spill occurred in the Lviv region. Due to faulty equipment belonging to one of the subsoil users, oil spilled both on the company’s premises and beyond its territory – onto adjacent plots and a dirt road. A pre-trial investigation has been launched, and experts are determining the extent of the environmental damage.
Source: Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office
Uncontrolled use of the landfill in Znamianka caused environmental damage exceeding UAH 1.5 million. Prosecutors filed charges in court against the head of the municipal enterprise that operates the landfill. The site lacked fencing, gates, and a barrier. As a result of this official’s negligence, waste was dumped outside the designated area, contaminating 11,500 m2 of land.
For more than two years, effluents containing excessive toxins entered the Psel River. The head of one of the units of Sumy’s Municipal Water Utility Enterprise (“Miskvodokanal”) is accused of pollution. Despite knowing about the excessive concentrations of hazardous substances, the official ignored this information. No instructions for technological changes were given to subordinates, so for two years and five months, heavily polluted wastewater was discharged into the river. The environmental damages amounted to UAH 1.3 million.
You can learn what environmental crimes were committed by officials and ordinary citizens last week at this link.
