The past week has not been marked by any particularly high-profile environmental crimes. However, this does not mean that, at a local level, nature is not continuing to suffer as a result of officials’ negligence, greed and abuse of power.
EcoPolitic's regular round-up of crimes against nature covers the period from 4 to 10 July. This article draws on information published by the State Bureau of Investigations, the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutors’ offices, as well as the State Environmental Inspectorate.
Tax fraud
The eco-tax is one of the tools used to compel polluting enterprises to pay for their negative impact on the environment. However, some attempt to circumvent this fiscal mechanism. A similar case of fraud was uncovered in the Zhytomyr region. There, a municipal enterprise managing a landfill site had been under-reporting its eco-tax rate. The company had applied the rates applicable to landfill sites located more than 3 km from residential areas, but in reality, waste was being deposited just 900 m from people’s homes. More than 13.7 million hryvnias has already been reimbursed to the budget.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General
Fight for Valuable Lands
He re-registered 8 hectares of protected lands to affiliated persons. In the Volyn region, the former head of the Main Department of the State Geocadastre in the region will face trial. The official, fully aware of the protected status of the lands, transferred four plots of 2 hectares each into private ownership. The territories within the national park “Tsumanska Pushcha” have already been returned to state ownership, but the official faces up to six years in prison for abuse of office with severe consequences for state interests.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
The Ivano-Frankivsk City Council transferred recreational lands near a lake worth UAH 1.1 million to a private company. The prosecutor's office found signs of concealed lease, although the city council claimed it was an easement agreement. In reality, land meant for a public park was handed over for business purposes. The Commercial Court of Ivano-Frankivsk Region has already initiated proceedings in the case.
He registered 35 hectares of forest lands in his own name using invalid documentation. In the Zhytomyr region, valuable lands were seized from private ownership. The illegality of the acquisition was confirmed by a forensic examination.
A widespread offense is registering protected area lands as communal property. Most often, protected territories are assigned the status of agricultural lands. Typically, this leads to illegal use of the territory and the destruction of unique ecosystems. Here are some examples:
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- More than 60 ha of the territory of the landscape reserve "Bazavlutskyi Riverside Complex" became the property of one of the city councils in the Nikopol district. At the request of prosecutors, the Economic Court initiated proceedings regarding the return of these lands to the state.
- Almost 150 ha of the Orchytsky General Zoological Reserve in Kharkiv region were unlawfully transferred into lease, and later subleased to a local agricultural enterprise. Prosecutors are demanding that the court declare the state registration of property rights invalid, cancel the lease and sublease agreements, and require the defendants to return the land to the community.
- In Dnipropetrovsk region, prosecutors proved in court that the transfer of 237 ha of the "Sukhyi Bychok" reserve into private ownership was illegal. All of these lands unexpectedly turned out to be classified as agricultural land.
- In Poltava region, in court, it was necessary to prove that transferring 32.5 ha of protected natural areas from "Dykanskyi" landscape park for commercial agricultural production was prohibited.
Source: Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office
A particular threat is posed to naturally forested land. These natural forest areas do not have the appropriate legal status and are therefore not protected. Consequently, in various regions, prosecutors are demanding that local councils properly register these plots. For instance, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the public prosecutor’s office won a case concerning 188 plots with a total area of over 1,000 hectares. These are situated within the communities of the Kamyanske and Pavlohrad districts, whose councils had chosen to take no action on this matter.
Forestry cases
A case has been brought before the court against officials of ‘Galsillis’, whose criminal actions led to the destruction of over 20,000 trees in the Lviv region. The damage to the environment amounted to over 112 million hryvnias. The accused are the chief forester and the acting chief forester. Instead of reforesting the land, they facilitated deforestation by issuing 50 logging permits.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General
They stole timber from state-owned forests and sold it to locals. In Zakarpattia, two men are to stand trial for felling trees worth over 1 million hryvnias in the Tyachiv Forest District. They cut down the trees with chainsaws, transported them by lorry, and subsequently sold them to local residents for cash.
Source: Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor's Office
Not exactly about forests, but about foresters. In the Zakarpattia region, the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) has exposed a forester who ‘forgot’ to declare assets worth over 9.6 million hryvnias, registered in the names of relatives. Specifically, he omitted two plots of land, a flat in Uzhhorod, two cars, and a two-storey house where his family lives. If found guilty, the official could face up to two years’ imprisonment, with restrictions on his right to engage in certain activities. EcoPolitics reported on this case in a separate news article.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation
In the Ternopil region, one of the city councils has been ordered to pay over 1.8 million UAH in damages for the illegal felling of trees. The Court of Appeal upheld the prosecutors’ claim.
Environmental pollution
A violation that seamlessly transitions from forestry matters to pollution. In the Zhytomyr region, the public prosecutor’s office successfully ensured that the state-owned enterprise ‘Forests of Ukraine’ paid nearly 1.6 million hryvnias for littering land belonging to the forest fund. For years, one of the state-owned enterprise’s branches had been dumping wood processing waste on forest fund land. In some places, the piles of sawdust were over 3.5 metres high.
The unregulated use of a landfill site by one of the village councils in the Ivano-Frankivsk region led to a legal action by the public prosecutor’s office. For years, the authorities had ignored orders — failing to cover the waste with soil or to reclaim the contaminated sites. An unauthorised rubbish dump has already sprung up around the site, polluting the environment. An expert assessment revealed dangerously high levels of petroleum products and heavy metals in the soil.
An unauthorised rubbish tip on leased land. Without the authorities’ knowledge, over 2 hectares of land worth 22 million hryvnias have become a rubbish tip over 2 metres high — filled with plastic, car tyres and even animal remains. The transport company was granted permanent use of this land by the state back in 1999, but has allowed it to fall into a dreadful state of neglect. The public prosecutor’s office is now seeking a court order to have the land returned to the Kharkiv community.
Source: Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office
Crimes involving animals
His negligence led to the deaths of over 50 cows. In the Zhytomyr region, the director of a state-owned enterprise was served with a notice of suspicion of professional negligence. The financial losses exceeded 1 million hryvnias. The official concealed the deaths of animals on the premises in the Zvyagilsky district. He disposed of the carcasses without proper disposal — simply burying them on the enterprise’s grounds near the areas where the rest of the herd was kept. The animals were neither vaccinated nor treated. EcoPolitics previously reported on this offence in more detail.
Source: Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor's Office
He left his dog on the balcony in the heat, which led to the animal’s death. In Kyiv, the owner of a French bulldog named Rafik faces up to three years’ imprisonment for cruelty to animals. As a form of ‘punishment’, the man left the dog on the balcony of his own flat without food, water or exercise. The suspect’s girlfriend told her mother about the dog’s death, and her mother then contacted the police. Neighbours told investigators that the man had repeatedly shown aggression towards the dog.
Source: Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office
A preliminary overview of environmental crimes against the Ukrainian environment can be found via the link.
