Due to the negligence of officials from the State Forestry Agency of Ukraine, forests continue to be cut down in the regions, national park lands are being turned into communal property, and officials are demanding bribes for the allocation of state lands.
EcoPolitic provides a digest of environmental crimes that became known between January 3 and 9. The material is based on official reports from the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutor's offices, the State Environmental Inspection and its branches, and the State Bureau of Investigations.
Illegal use of subsoil resources
Underground mineral waters worth over UAH 2 billion were illegally extracted in the Dnipropetrovsk region. An official of one of the enterprises in the Samarivsky district, during the suspension of special permits, arbitrarily organized the extraction of water for sale. This strategic resource belongs to minerals of national importance, so the man was placed under suspicion.
Source: Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office
Appropriation of land
Expanding hunting grounds for $25,000. The head of the Southern Interregional Forestry and Hunting Management of the State Forest Resources Agency demanded money from the regional branch of the Ukrainian Society of Hunters and Fishermen. The official was supposed to assist in expanding their hunting grounds by 13,000 ha. As a result, the official received not the money but a notice of suspicion and now faces up to 12 years of imprisonment.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
In communal ownership ended up 8 ha within the boundaries of the "Dnistrovskyi Canyon" National Park. Prosecutors are seeking to return these valuable territories to state ownership through the courts.
Negligence of the cadastral registrar led to 2.6 ha of the Synevyr National Park suddenly becoming classified as agricultural land and transferred to the communal ownership of the local village council. The man was notified of suspicion under the article on official negligence with severe consequences.
Agricultural works on the lands of "Karmeliukove Podillia" National Park in the Vinnytsia region. The case against three entrepreneurs who cultivated agricultural crops on 6 ha of valuable land is already before the court. They face imprisonment for up to 2 years.
Tree felling
Damages of almost UAH 5 million due to forest felling in the Kirovohrad region. There, a forest ranger allegedly failed to notice the felling of 225 trees within the "Novomyrhorodske-2" reserve. The official faces up to 5 years in prison.
In the Zhytomyr region, a man not only illegally privatized and legalized communal lands, but also felled trees in the local "Benznyukove" reserve, causing environmental damage amounting to UAH 3.4 million. Prosecutors have sent the case to court.
На Zakarpattia, two illegal loggers have been served with charges for cutting down more than 70 trees in the Syniak Regional Landscape Park. They caused damage amounting to 6 million UAH.
Source: Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor's Office
In Ternopil region, negligence by employees of the "Kremenets Forestry Enterprise" resulted in the felling of nearly 400 trees. The prosecutor's office is seeking to recover damages amounting to more than 3 million UAH from this branch of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" through the court.
In Zakarpattia, due to inadequate protection and disregard for violations by two foresters, environmental damage reached 1 million UAH. Because of official negligence, the forest rangers may face up to 5 years in prison.
"Forests of Ukraine" paid 2.5 million UAH for illegal logging that occurred in the Yamnytsia community on their property. The investigation is still ongoing.
Earlier, EcoPolitic reported that the calculated amount of damage to the environment caused by crimes of forestry sector officials amounted to 546 million UAH.
You can review last week's digest of environmental crimes at this link.
