In Ukraine, law enforcement agencies have launched a large-scale special operation to combat illegal logging, timber theft and corruption in the forestry sector in general. In the first week alone following the announcement of the operation’s launch, measures were taken in connection with 12 criminal cases. The losses have been estimated at nearly 66 million hryvnias.
This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigations.
Preliminary results
The State Bureau of Investigation reports that various types of criminal schemes have been uncovered — permits to fell healthy trees under the pretence that they are diseased, payments to contractors for work not carried out, and the sale of timber at a loss.
Procedural measures have been carried out in 12 criminal cases. In six of these, 23 individuals have been charged, 11 of whom have been detained. A total of 39 searches were also carried out in connection with six of these cases.
Two further investigations have been completed. One of them concerns the activities of an organised group of eight people.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
Criminal cases
The State Bureau highlighted several of the most telling cases.
Profiting from bogus timber harvesting. A criminal organisation operating in the Cherkasy, Kirovohrad and Vinnytsia regions has been exposed. The organiser ran a company with no staff or equipment, yet signed contracts with forestry officials worth over 178 million hryvnias. For their part, the forestry officials signed certificates of completion. The funds were cashed out and divided amongst all members of the group.
The foresters did the work — the contractors received the money. In the Zhytomyr region, private contractors were paid for work that was actually carried out by forestry workers or local residents. Around 9 million hryvnias were channelled through this scheme. The contractors kept 17 per cent of the sum for themselves, whilst the rest was converted into cash and handed over to the organisers of the scheme.
Illegal extension of contract terms. This is what officials at the branch of the state-owned enterprise ‘Forests of Ukraine’ and at forestry enterprises did. As a result, buyers were able to purchase timber at the old prices, causing the state to lose almost 6.9 million hryvnias.
A pretext for felling healthy trees. Over 160 trees were felled in Volyn under the guise of sanitary felling. The losses exceeded 6.5 million hryvnias. In the Kyiv region, nearly 448 trees were affected by the negligence of two officials, resulting in losses of over 3.2 million hryvnias. In the Carpathian region, permits were issued for tree felling in the ‘Chornyi Lis’ nature reserve without the necessary approvals. Preliminary losses have already exceeded 5 million hryvnias.
It should be noted that, as a result of crimes committed by officials in the forestry sector – which were only uncovered in 2025 – the state suffered losses amounting to 546 million hryvnias.
State auditors have recently completed an audit of the State Enterprise ‘Forests of Ukraine’. A large-scale scheme was uncovered involving the conclusion of contracts for contract work with entrepreneurs who had only recently registered as sole traders, or who could not be located at all at their registered address
