In Kharkiv, 50 maples and several oaks were illegally cut down in a forest park for the illegal construction of a private estate.
Mayor of Kharkiv Ihor Terekhov emphasized that there is no permit for the construction and it will be stopped, reports Kharkiv City Council on Telegram.
Terekhov also turned to to the police with a corresponding statement.
Ukrinform reported that the citizens paid attention to the construction site near the track of the children's railway in the forest park as early as mid-October 2022.
"Corresponding photos began to appear on social networks. Residents of Kharkiv were outraged by yet another high-end building in the recreation area, in addition, signs with the inscription "Beware of mines" were placed around so that people would avoid the construction site," the article says.
In addition, next to the illegal construction, preparations are being made for the construction of a road through the forest park.
"The need for this road is long overdue. Currently, we are conducting preparatory work in the area of the children's railway. The information that a house is planned to be built there is not true. The children's railway will not be affected," said deputy Yevhenii Vodovozov.
According to him, the construction of the road will start no earlier than next year.
However, deputy of the Kharkiv City Council Iryna Goncharova-Bagaliy emphasized that the city council plans to build a road on the territory of the Sokolniki-Pomirka Nature Reserve.
As you know, there are three nature conservation objects on the territory of the Kharkiv Forest Park:
- Sokolniki-Pomirky – a botanical monument of nature of local importance with an area of about 163 hectares;
- Pomirky is a botanical monument of local importance with an area of about 120 hectares;
- Sokolniki-Pomirky is a regional landscape park with an area of 1,104.6 hectares, where red book species of plants and animals are found.
The article emphasized that in 1987 the area of the forest park was 2,385 hectares, and in 2009 it was already 2,060 hectares. The area decreased as a result of active development, which took place thanks to the so-called "cooperative scheme" (free provision of land plots by the city council to housing and construction cooperatives).
The authors also noted that in May 2010, they started laying a 4-lane road in the forest park from St. Sumska to st. Novgorodskaya, because of which it was necessary to destroy hundreds of trees. The actions of the government, then headed by Mayor Gennady Kernes, caused public opposition.
"The confrontation lasted 20 days. People protected trees with their bodies, suffered beatings. After the all-Ukrainian publicity, "public hearings" were organized. Very few defenders of the park were able to enter the hall and take part in the vote, so in the end the city authorities won, thanks to their strength and administrative resources," they said.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the higher anti-corruption court found guilty the ex-director of the state-owned enterprise "Hutyan Forest Farm" in Kharkiv Oblast, Viktor Sysa in an attempt to bribe a detective National Anti-Corruption Bureau.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, the prosecutor's office in Vinnytsia informed about the suspicion of 5 officials from the management of the regional management of forestry and hunting and "Kryzhopolsky forestry" in exceeding their official powers, which caused serious consequences. They are suspected of illegal felling of trees in the amount of about 87 million UAH.
