Prosecutors in Volyn exposed two officials from state forestry enterprises who organized a scheme for illegal felling of trees and their subsequent sale through a controlled sawmill.
During a search of the band sawmill complex, more than 1,300 pine logs with an estimated value of UAH 2 million, a logging truck, a tractor, and a trailer were found and seized, the Volyn Regional Prosecutor's Office reported on Facebook.
The report emphasized that the wood cut down on the territory of forestry enterprises was taken to a sawmill, where it was processed. The trees either did not have marking tags or had inaccurate information about the volume and grade.
"In order to give the appearance of legality to the activity, the accomplices bought some of the lumber officially at auctions," the prosecutor's office said.
It is noted that the searches were carried out as part of a pre-trial investigation of a criminal proceeding on illegal felling of a forest and seizure of state property by abuse of official position, committed under martial law (Part 1 of Article 246, Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Police also seized mobile phones and documents. Currently, the issue of seizure of the seized is being resolved.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that former officials of the Volyn Regional Department of Forestry and Hunting and the Lyuboml Forestry will be tried for organizing illegal felling of the forest for 21 million hryvnias.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, the state enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" made a decision on dismissal of all directors of Rivne branches due to chronic deep corruption problems.
