In Zhytomyr region, a number of officials involved in serious violations in the field of forest resource protection have been exposed. According to the regional prosecutor's office, the total amount of damage caused to the state exceeds 23 million hryvnias. The defendants include employees of state-owned enterprises, private companies, as well as representatives of local authorities.
In particular, an employee of the state enterprise "Grozynske" is suspected of organizing illegal felling of trees in forest areas that were transferred to the enterprise for protection. As a result of her actions, the state suffered losses of over 14.6 million hryvnias.
Another incident involved a forester from the "Capital Forest Office" branch of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine". Due to official negligence, he allowed the unauthorized felling of 286 trees. The damage was estimated at 2.4 million hryvnias.
The director of a private limited liability company also appears, who, according to the investigation, organized the export of lumber prohibited for export. Forged documents were used for this. The amount of losses exceeded 5 million hryvnias.
Separately, the prosecutor's office announced the completion of the investigation and the submission to the court of an indictment against the manager of a solid waste landfill owned by the Zhytomyr City Council. The investigation found that he failed to provide proper protection of adjacent forest lands from pollution, causing damage of 840 thousand hryvnias.
Law enforcement officers incriminate the defendants with criminal offenses under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
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Part 3 of Article 201-1 — smuggling,
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Part 1 of Article 239 — pollution or damage to land,
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Part 4 of Article 246 - illegal logging,
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Part 4 of Article 358 — forgery of documents.
The necessary procedural actions are currently underway.
