The Zaliznychny District Court of Lviv found Volodymyr Patsula, deputy director of the state enterprise "Mostyske Military Forestry", guilty of trying to bribe an employee of the military counterintelligence department of the SBU. The official offered the law enforcement officer monthly bribes to "turn a blind eye" to his possible crimes, in particular, regarding illegal logging.
According to the investigation, in September 2023, during a personal meeting with a senior counterintelligence officer, Patsula offered 20,000 hryvnias per month — 10,000 from each forestry division. For this money, the official expected that the law enforcement officer would not react to the facts of the offenses, would not hold him accountable, and would contribute to the closure of the criminal proceedings.
In court, the accused pleaded not guilty, explaining that he had no intention of offering a bribe, but only wanted to find out what documents were needed to close the case. He called his words about "ten from one precinct" "misinterpreted."
Judge Olesya Postrygach found Volodymyr Patsula guilty of Part 1 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — offering an illegal benefit to an official — and imposed a fine of 51 thousand hryvnias. In addition, he must pay more than 32 thousand hryvnias for conducting examinations. The verdict can be appealed.
