Officials of the Yasinya Forestry and Svalyava Forestry branches of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” did not allow environmental inspectors to conduct unscheduled inspections on the territory of their forestry enterprises.
This was reported by Yulia Ovchynnykova, MP, Head of the Subcommittee on Forest Resources, Flora and Fauna, Natural Landscapes and Nature Reserve Fund of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, on her official Facebook page.
According to her, she sent an appeal to the Yasinya Forestry branch regarding large-scale illegal logging on their territory. However, the foresters replied that they had not received any materials regarding this violation from the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine.
When the MP turned to the inspectorate for explanations, it turned out that the environmental inspectors had the approval of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine to conduct an unscheduled inspection, but officials of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” simply did not allow them to visit the site.
Yuliya Ovchinnikova claims that the foresters themselves have repeatedly told that their employees from the internal security service discovered illegal logging last year. The officials accused the local residents of the offense and claim that the officials of the branch of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" are not involved in this.
"Therefore, it is very surprising why in such a case the foresters refused to allow the environmental inspection to check? Is there something to hide?” – asked the narodepka.
According to her information, the officials of the SE "Forests of Ukraine" also did not allow eco-inspectors to inspect another branch – "Svalyav Forestry".
Yuliya Ovchynnikova stated that such a situation is unacceptable and the damages from illegal logging should be calculated in full, and all persons responsible for their conduct should be brought to justice. Therefore, she appealed to the Ministry of the Environment with a request to ensure that appropriate inspections are carried out.
Recently, EcoPolitic published a detailed analysis by experts of who makes money from illegal deforestation in Ukraine and how. We also talked about the scandal between the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” and the environmental inspection over the recorded illegal logging worth UAH 83 million.
