The director of a forestry enterprise was charged with organizing illegal mining in Zakarpattia

The director of a forestry enterprise was charged with organizing illegal mining in Zakarpattia
Katerina Belousova

About 300 m3 of subsoil were mined in two months

In Zakarpattia region, the director of a forestry enterprise was notified of suspicion of organizing the extraction of sand and gravel from the Teresva River by using his official position.

The official involved his subordinate employees in the extraction, who were mining in Tyachiv district without any permits, the Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor's Office reports.

It is noted that the offenders used special equipment of the forestry for mining. The forestry workers took the extracted sand and gravel mixture to a private land plot in the village of Ust-Chorna.

"During April-May last year, as a result of illegal activities, about 300 cubic meters of subsoil were illegally mined. Environmental damage amounted to 307,000 hryvnias," the report says.

The scheme was uncovered thanks to cooperation with the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office and the State Bureau of Investigation.

Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the Commercial Court of Zakarpattia Oblast ordered the company to compensate almost 6.7 million hryvnias in damages for illegal mining of sand-gravel mixture instead of arranging a fish breeding pond.

As EcoPolitic reported earlier, the state enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" made a decision to dismiss all directors of Rivne branches due to chronic deep corruption problems. Personnel purges were announced after the deputy director of the regional forest office was exposed for illegal enrichment of 150 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

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The Bureau is identifying all those involved and intends to ensure that the millions in losses are recouped