The most common crimes are usually attempts to take land from nature reserves, forests, or water resources away from the state. Officials have also been involved in mass tree felling again.
EcoPolitics has gathered info on environmental crimes reported by law enforcement and eco-inspectors from November 29 to December 5. The article uses data from the State Bureau of Investigations, the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutor's offices, the State Environmental Inspection and its regional branches.
Land appropriation
A group of businessmen appropriated a forest on top of a mountain in the Chernivtsi region for resale. This involves 6 hectares near the Myhove ski resort within the Myhove forestry, worth almost UAH 3.5 million. The scheme is traditional: forged state documents were used as the basis for assigning cadastral numbers, preparing land and technical documentation, and registering ownership rights for the plot. The State Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Security Service of Ukraine, has already completed a pre-trial investigation. The participants in the scheme, including the wife of an official of the Myhiv Village Council, face up to 12 years in prison.
Source: gp.gov.ua
The prosecutor's office is trying to stop the destruction of the Svyatoshinsky ponds in Kyiv. The commercial court is already considering a case that would strip the Institute of Fisheries of its ownership rights to 230 hectares of land and terminate its permanent use rights to a 14.5-hectare plot. The scientific institution received land from the water fund for research work, but construction of a cottage town with more than 200 townhouses and apartment buildings began on one of the plots. The pond was partially filled in and the landscape was leveled, which threatens the hydrological regime.
Prosecutors in Mykolaiv region returned almost 55 hectares of forest to state ownership. Earlier, during a land inventory, the State Geocadastre registered these lands as communal property. The forestry designation suddenly became agricultural. The court fully satisfied the prosecutor's claim.
A similar situation occurred in the Zhytomyr region, where the geocadastre also transferred forest land to community ownership and changed its designation to agricultural. This concerns over 36 hectares within the “Radomyshl Forestry”. The court ordered the plots to be returned to state ownership.
Forest in the Zaporizhia region also ended up in communal ownership. One village council “appropriated” 3.4 hectares of “Forests of Ukraine” land and changed its designation to public and residential development. The court sided with the prosecutors, returning the forests of the “Hlynyshche” tract to state ownership.
Source: Zaporizhia Regional Prosecutor’s Office
In the Kyiv region, a company had been using the Hrechanogrebelsky reservoir illegally for years. Prosecutors went to court and returned the 511-hectare water facility to the state.
Illegal construction
In the Chernivtsi region, a former fiscal service official was accused of unauthorized construction. The building, with an area of almost 600 m2, was located in a picturesque place, partially occupying the forest area. The land belongs to "Forests of Ukraine."
In the Odesa region, violators choose plots on the seashore for illegal construction. For example, a citizen was charged with building a two-story house on the coast without a land permit. The director of a local enterprise had even greater ambitions — he built a hotel, spa area, and swimming pool on Langeron Beach, which had been operating since 2022. The community suffered losses of over UAH 20 million.
Destruction of trees
More than 4,000 trees were destroyed in Lviv region with the involvement of the director of State Enterprise "Rava-Ruske Forestry". The state suffered losses amounting to 18.5 million UAH. The official personally approved tree cutting in prohibited areas. The indictment is already in court, and the official faces imprisonment for up to 10 years. An interesting point is that this is already the third director exposed by law enforcement for illegal logging in the Rava-Ruska forestry alone.
Under the pretense of training, the former head of the State Emergency Service (DSNS) in Ivano-Frankivsk region organized logging worth 7.3 million UAH. This took place on the territory of the "Chorny Lis" nature reserve near the village of Nova Huta. Nearly 100 subordinates of the official carried out the logging. Thus, instead of extinguishing forest fires, trees were cut down over an area exceeding 112 ha. The State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) has completed the investigation, and charges are already in court. For abuse of power and illegal logging, the official may lose his freedom for up to 10 years.
Source: gp.gov.ua
The Bronikivska Village Council in Zhytomyr region must compensate nearly 6 million UAH. The State Environmental Inspectorate filed a lawsuit over illegal logging of trees in the protected area of the "Green Lagoon" landscape reserve.
Over 1.8 million UAH must also be compensated to the state by one of the communities of Ternopil region. The reason is illegal tree felling in the "Bilozerka" forest tract. The land is owned by the municipality, so the community is liable for not ensuring adequate protection of the forests.
Environmental pollution
Environmental damage amounting to nearly 4 million UAH was caused by illegal fuel production. In Khmelnytsky region, the director and an employee of a local company received notices of suspicion for producing heavy distillate. The unlawful activity was also highly non-ecological. Old car tires were burned on-site for fuel production. Analysis of soil and water samples confirmed pollution. Chemical waste was dumped and buried right within the boundaries of Kropyvnytskyi. The chemicals contaminated the soil with arsenic, lead, cadmium, zinc, and other elements and substances. Environmental inspectors recorded concentrations exceeding certain indicators by hundreds of times. The offenders are four individuals, including the director and a technologist of a private enterprise. Prosecutors have sent 10 indictments to court.
You can read the digest of last week’s environmental crimes at the link.
