The head of one of the offices of "Forests of Ukraine" was suspected of embezzling 15 million UAH shutterstock

The head of one of the offices of "Forests of Ukraine" was suspected of embezzling 15 million UAH

Katerina Belousova

The official's property was seized

Suspicion was reported in Volyn to the former director of one of the state forestry enterprises, who is also a deputy of the city council, regarding the embezzlement of over 15 million UAH in 2019-2021.

Currently, he holds the position of director of one of the regional forestry offices of the state-owned enterprise "Forests of Ukraine", informs Office of the Prosecutor General.

It is noted that the chief accountant of the enterprise was also informed about the suspicion.

"He [the ex-director] unreasonably transferred funds from the bank account of the forest farm to the benefit of economic entities for the allegedly provided services for the repair of transport, road transport, loading of forest products, etc. The investigation established that in fact they were not provided," the message reads.

As you know, part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, under which the suspicion was announced, provides for deprivation of liberty for a term of seven to twelve years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years and with confiscation of property.

"Currently, the issue of selecting a preventive measure and removing him from office is being resolved. The man's property has been seized," the press service said.

We remind you that in Volyn, Kovel City Council member Pavel Semenyuk was suspected of organizing a criminal scheme regarding the export of illegal wood in the amount of over 44 million UAH.

As EcoPolitics previously reported, in Lviv Oblast, the management of the branch of the state-owned enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" organized an underground data-center for cryptocurrency mining in the office premises of "Rava-Rus Forestry". The losses reached more than 1.5 million hryvnias, and those involved earned at least 4 million UAH.

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Now, he can either receive a fine of up to UAH 68 thousand or go to jail for up to 2 years

Illegal enrichment of more than UAH 44 million: former director of the branch of "Forests of Ukraine" received suspicion
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Despite the "reform" of the forestry industry, the number and appetite of corrupt foresters is only growing

Anti-record for five years: in 2024, illegal logging caused UAH 817 million in losses to Ukraine
Anti-record for five years: in 2024, illegal logging caused UAH 817 million in losses to Ukraine

At the same time, the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" regularly boasts of successful transformations of the forest industry, but the numbers make us doubt it very much