Yaroslav Oliynyk, head of the Berehove Forestry branch of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”, organized a scheme of illegal logging and trade in valuable wood, which brings him hundreds of thousands of hryvnias.
These are the results of the Open Forest portal's own investigation.
Referring to their own sources in law enforcement agencies, the journalists said that in the village of Tsuman, Lutsk district, Volyn region, a truck with unaccounted for business oak without any markings was detained on the territory of a veneer production company.
Photo: openforest.org.ua.
According to experts, the felled trees are 100-130 years old. At the request of law enforcement officers from Zakarpattia, they said that there were only a few hectares of such oaks left in the Berehove forestry. The preliminary value of the detained wood is estimated at between UAH 1 and 1.2 million.
According to Open Forest, a truckload of business oak without tags and proper supporting documents was harvested in Berehove district of Zakarpattia region under the direction of Yaroslav Oliynyk, director of the local branch of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”. The journalists say that the truck with the illegal wood was captured by surveillance cameras in the village of Siltse in Zakarpattia and at the post in Nyzhni Vorota on the border of Zakarpattia and Lviv regions.
“Surprisingly, the cargo was not confiscated at the post. Obviously, not without the assistance of the director of the Berehove forestry,” the investigators said.
They said that, according to law enforcement, the buyer of the illegal wood was Yaroslav Romanishyn, director of Yarko-Ko LLC. He wanted to process it at a company in Tsuman and export it.
Photo: openforest.org.ua.
The portal's journalists claim that this is not the first time that a business oak has been transported from Zakarpattia to Volyn under this scheme. Previously, it had already been exported for tens of millions of hryvnias.
According to Open Forest, the organizer of the scheme with illegal logging and export of timber, Yaroslav Oliynyk, has a salary of about 100 thousand hryvnias, and earns “several more such salaries” through illegal timber trade. Citing sources in law enforcement, journalists report that the corrupt official plans to buy himself a higher position with his illegal income.
Investigators also reminded that law enforcement officers opened two criminal cases against the current director of the Berehove Forestry Enterprise during his time as acting director of the Brusturyansky Forestry and Hunting Enterprise. The first was for misappropriation of budget funds during public procurement of cars, and the second was for violation of the rules for the protection or use of subsoil and illegal mining.
“Despite the open criminal case, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” extended Yaroslav Oliynyk's contract at the Berehove branch,” the journalists say.
They recommended that the management of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” pay special attention to this Transcarpathian official and, instead of appointing him to higher positions, carefully check his activities and give his actions a proper assessment.
Earlier, EcoPolitic reported that, according to media reports, Ukrainian foresters have learned to circumvent the new state system of deforestation control. We also talked about the officials of the Bilozero National Park, who face the fourth criminal case in a year.
