50 million UAH worth of trees were cut down in Transcarpathia: the eco-prosecution office found the culprits

50 million UAH worth of trees were cut down in Transcarpathia: the eco-prosecution office found the culprits shutterstock
Katerina Belousova

The foresters did not take sufficient measures to preserve the trees on the territory entrusted to them

The specialized environmental prosecutor's office of the Zakarpattia region reported suspicion of official negligence, which caused serious consequences, to two ex-employees of the Irshava forest farm.

In 2020-2021, they allowed illegal mass felling of trees, which caused losses of more than 50 million hryvnias, the Office of the Prosecutor General reports.

It is noted that the former chief forester and head of the forestry division did not take sufficient measures to preserve forest plantations on the territory entrusted to them. They are suspected under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In the message, it was emphasized that the pre-trial investigation is carried out by the State Bureau of Investigation, located in Lviv, together with the operational unit of the Security Intelligence Service and the Strategic Investigations Department in the Transcarpathian Region of the National Police's Strategic Investigations Department.

Earleir, EcoPolitic wrote, that in the Kyiv region, the police uncovered a large-scale scheme of illegal felling and sale of wood, the losses from which reached 4 million hryvnias. A group of 9 criminals, which included officials, worked in two districts of the region.

As EcoPolitic previously reported, the Economic Court of Zakarpattia Oblast decided to charge more than 889,000 hryvnias from the Svalyava forest farm for illegal felling of trees.

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