A criminal scheme of foresters worth 2 million UAH was exposed in Bukovina

A criminal scheme of foresters worth 2 million UAH was exposed in Bukovina dbr.gov.ua
Katerina Belousova

Perpetrators face up to 10 years in prison

In the Chernivtsi region, 5 former employees of the Berehomet Forestry Company, who caused losses to the state of more than 2 million hryvnias, were notified of suspicion.

The perpetrators deliberately indicated a smaller diameter of the cut wood in the documents in order to divide the surplus among themselves, reports the

The report emphasized that the violators illegally cut down more than 200 trees, including spruces, firs and beech.

The foresters issued illegal cubic meters to a private company, the owner of which is the sister of one of the participants in the proceedings. They also forged fictitious delivery documents. In addition, criminals tried to legalize income by buying used premium cars at a discounted price.

After the investigation into criminal activity began, the accused were released. They face imprisonment for up to 10 years.

"Measures are being taken to seize the property of the suspects and compensate for the damages. Procedural management of the pre-trial investigation is carried out by the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office," the message reads.

Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that experts of the public organization "Forest" suspected the forestry farm "Halsillis" in the Lviv Region of falsification of sanitary felling of trees.

As EcoPolitic previously reported, in Volyn the director of the Shatsky National Nature Park will be tried for committing crimes as part of an organized group. She is suspected of hiring "dead souls" and embezzling their salaries for more than a million hryvnias.

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Most of the crimes uncovered involve foresters implicated in illegal logging, the embezzlement of public funds and negligence, which is causing damage to the forests

The State Bureau of Investigation has launched a special operation, ‘Green Shield’, to tackle forestry corruption and illegal logging
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The Bureau is identifying all those involved and intends to ensure that the millions in losses are recouped