The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has opened a pre-trial investigation against the head of the "Kivertsiv Forestry" Branch of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" Anatoly Yarmoluk. He is suspected of illegal enrichment.
Such information is contained in the ruling of the Pechersk District Court.
Criminal proceedings are opened under Art. 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The decree also states the total amount of assets that he and his relatives have acquired over the past 4 years. This is not a lot, not a little - UAH 27,253,913.26. At the same time, DBR employees noted that most of the assets were purchased at a significantly lower cost. That is, the purchased apartments, land plots and cars cost much more than all the legal income of himself and his family combined.
According to the information of the "Force of Truth" publication, which prepared material regarding the enrichment of Yarmolyuk and his family, the investigators calculated that the total income of the forest farm director, his wife, mother, father-in-law and mother-in-law for the period from January 1, 1998 to March 31, 2024 amounted to UAH 7.4 million. However, over the past four years, family members have purchased property worth 3.7 times more.
The list of property on which SBI investigators asked the court to seize is as follows:
- House with an area of 270 square meters. m in the village of Tarasove on the outskirts of Lutsk at a cost of over UAH 20 million. He is registered to his wife Maria Yarmolyuk. The official in the declaration for the year 2023 indicated the building as an unfinished construction, but the resolution states that it is fully completed. This fact is also confirmed by the journalists of "Syly Pravda" and provide a photo of the forester's residence from 2018.
Photo: sylapravdy.com.
Photo: sylapravdy.com.
- A plot of land in the same village. Tarasove, registered for his wife, with an area of 10 acres for UAH 202,000. Investigators say that the cost is significantly lower than the market value.
- Apartment with an area of 69.7 square meters. m, registered to Yarmolyuk's mother, worth UAH 1.3 million.
- Apartment with an area of 74 square meters. m, purchased by the forester's wife in 2023 in the "Yarovytsia" residential complex in Lutsk, the purchase price is UAH 951,000. This real estate was later issued to another relative.
- Together with the house, a parking space of more than 17 square meters was bought in "Yarovytsa". m for UAH 210,000. The DRB employees noted that the contracts and additional agreements for the apartment and parking space were drawn up in such a way that Maria Yarmolyuk remained the actual owner, and the registration of the ownership of the nominal owner – a relative – was carried out in order to hide Yarmolyuk's assets and not show them in the declaration.
- Residential building with an area of 112 square meters. m, registered to the forester's father-in-law. The cost of this purchase is UAH 242,000. Investigators insist that it is significantly undervalued compared to the market price.
- Yarmolyuk's wife immediately bought two agricultural land plots with an area of 1.8 and 0.88 hectares in the Torchynska community for about 13 and 6.5 thousand. UAH respectively. This cost is significantly lower than the market value.
- In addition to the house, the forester's father-in-law became the lucky owner of a 2016 Toyota Land Cruiser 200 car worth UAH 1.9 million. DBR employees reported that Yarmolyuk himself actually uses this car. As evidence, they cited the fines imposed on him for violating traffic rules for March 23, 2023 and February 9, 2024.
- But the mother-in-law of the head of the forest farm got a 2022 Volkswagen Multivan. According to the documents, it was purchased for UAH 1.8 million, while the market value is UAH 3 million. Yarmolyuk himself also uses the car by proxy.
- The third car – BMW X3, 2020, is registered to his wife. According to the sales contract, it cost Maria Yarmolyuk UAH 555,000, although its market value is approximately UAH 1.5 million.
The Pechersk Court seized part of the listed property. The journalists of "Syly Pravda" claim that during the searches, the law enforcement officers found two more quad bikes "Apex Yamaha" and "Can-Am Maverick" belonging to the father-in-law of Anatoliy Yarmolyuk, which were also seized by the court.
The day after the release of the material on the "Forces of Truth" website, a post appeared on the Facebook page of the Polissky Forestry Office, in which Anatoliy Yarmolyuk gave his comment on this matter. He said that neither he nor his family members had been charged with anything. He claims that the family has been building the house in Tarasovo for 15 years and still has not completed it.
The director of the Kivertsiv forest farm claims that his father-in-law's house was purchased long before his appointment to the position.
"Vehicles, in particular the minibus belonging to the mother-in-law, are also their business. The use of these cars, whether by me or by anyone else in the family, is not a violation of the law. I don't understand at all how you can connect all that with me. According to this logic, the property of ten more relatives should be added," Yarmolyuk says.
The forester reported that he declared all the mentioned objects in accordance with the requirements of the law.
Earlier, EcoPolitic already wrote about the violations recorded by law enforcement officers in Kivertsiv Forestry. Yes, the prosecutors of the Lutsk District Prosecutor's Office are in court demanded from private ownership to state ownership of a land plot of the forest fund with an area of 1 ha and a value of over UAH 7 million in the Lutsk district. The experts found out that initially it was used by the state enterprise "Kivertsiv Forestry", and later it was unjustifiably classified as agricultural land, transferred to communal, and later – to private ownership.
Also a forester of one of the forestry companies of the State Enterprise "Kivertsiv Forestry" caught on a bribe in the total amount of UAH 29,500.
