EcoPolitic has compiled for its readers the top 6 large-scale cases of environmental damage reported by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the press services of prosecutors, as well as the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine and its units during the week of June 21-27.
1. SBI officers exposed 4 officials of the Rava-Ruske Forestry State Enterprise who, in different years, personally signed and issued permits for deforestation in areas where it was prohibited. In this way, more than 3 thousand trees of different species were destroyed in Lviv region.
Photo: dbr.gov.ua.
The State Ecological Inspectorate in Lviv Oblast has already confirmed the losses of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” at about UAH 14.5 million. However, additional examinations are still ongoing. They may increase the amount of damage to more than UAH 50 million.
Law enforcers notified the officials of suspicion of abuse of power that caused grave consequences (Part 3 of Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and illegal felling of trees in forests (Part 4 of Article 246 of the Criminal Code). Therefore, the defendants risk being imprisoned for up to 10 years.
Photo: dbr.gov.ua.
2. In Mykolaiv region, a group of four “black loggers” was detained who managed to cause damage worth more than UAH 3 million. According to the investigation, a 50-year-old resident of the Mostivska united territorial community in Voznesensk district suggested that his three friends, aged 26, 30 and 31, engage in illegal logging. They were looking for places to cut down trees in protective plantations, including valuable species, cut, saw and sell them.
Photo: myk.gp.gov.ua.
Photo: myk.gp.gov.ua.
All those involved in the case are currently under house arrest. They face imprisonment for a term of 5 to 7 years.
3. The Pervomaisk District Prosecutor's Office has filed a lawsuit against the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration and the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration's Department of Ecology and Natural Resources for their inaction regarding 19 containers of pesticides that have been stored in improper conditions for several years and should have been disposed of.
The prosecutor's office said that the issue of disposing of such waste was included in the Mykolaiv Region Development Strategy for the periods up to 2020 and 2027, as well as in the Comprehensive Environmental Protection Programs of the region for 2018-2020 and 2021-2027, but despite this, hazardous substances continue to be stored in inappropriate conditions and have not yet been neutralized.
4. In the Zhytomyr region, environmental inspectors discovered the illegal felling of 213 trees of various species outside the settlements of the Korosten City Council. The calculated damages amounted to UAH 1.9 million. The specialists forwarded the materials regarding this violation to the police.
5. In the Cherkasy region, the Capital District Inspectorate filed a claim against an individual entrepreneur for almost UAH 1.2 million for fishing without the appropriate documents.
6. Experts from the State Environmental Inspection in Vinnytsia region calculated the losses and filed a claim against Zorya Podillya Food Company LLC for more than UAH 916,000 for excessive emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere.
Read about three former heads of a military forestry enterprise in Dnipropetrovsk region who for years issued permits for tree felling in an area for which they were no longer responsible, and whose actions resulted in the illegal felling of trees worth over UAH 68 million in 2023 alone, in the previous EcoPolitics digest for June 14-20.
