In the Lviv region, a scheme involving illegal logging worth more than €2 million was uncovered

Prosecutors have uncovered yet another scheme involving forest destruction in Lviv region, with losses amounting to 103 million hryvnias (€2.04 million) and tens of thousands of trees cut down.

This was reported on Friday by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko on social media.

“The Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office of the Prosecutor General’s Office has exposed another scheme of illegal forest destruction in Lviv region. The organizer was the director of the Slavsko subsidiary forestry enterprise of Halsillis and a sitting member of the local settlement council,” Kravchenko wrote.

According to the Prosecutor General, from 2019 to 2023 the official issued formal permits (logging tickets) for the cutting of “sparse woodland.”

“There is no such category of logging in Ukrainian legislation at all. This was an attempt to legalize the destruction of the forest,” he said.

“As a result, nearly 19,000 trees were destroyed in Stryi district. The environmental damage exceeds 103 million hryvnias (€2.04 million),” Kravchenko noted.

To carry out the work, the suspect allegedly involved private companies which, according to the Prosecutor General, were unaware of his criminal intent and believed the operations were legal.

The official has been notified that he is under suspicion for illegal logging committed by a group acting in prior conspiracy and causing grave consequences, under Part 4 of Article 246 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The prosecution has petitioned the court to impose a preventive measure in the form of round-the-clock house arrest, as well as the seizure of property.

“No position or status gives anyone the right to destroy Ukrainian forests for personal gain. Every tree cut down will have to be accounted for under the law. We continue our work,” Kravchenko stressed.