Today, September 9, the Prosecutor General's Office announced suspicion to Zakarpattia Oblast Council deputy Heorhiy Horvat for illegal sale of valuable oak timber worth over UAH 1 million. As it turned out, this is not the first time the Horvat family has made headlines. In particular, in August, Horvat's son Andriy was suspected of robbery with a friend of a disabled woman, after which the court sent him into custody, but at the end of August he was released from the pre-trial detention center under "parental care." UNN investigated what scandals the deputy's family was involved in.
Context
As reported by UNN, today, September 9, prosecutors established the involvement of Zakarpattia Oblast Council deputy, head of the oblast council's permanent commission on ecology and natural resource use, agro-industrial complex and rural development Heorhiy Horvat in the illegal sale of valuable oak timber worth over UAH 1 million.
According to the investigation, the people's deputy acted in collusion with the head of one of the forestries. This is a crime that law enforcement officers uncovered in June 2025. As previously reported, the head of the Berehove forestry branch of "Carpathian Forest Office" SE "Forests of Ukraine" established the sale of higher-grade oak timber without legal grounds
To implement the plan, in the official documents of the forestry, valuable oak was passed off as ordinary firewood. It was sold to an enterprise that did not have the appropriate permits to receive it.
According to the prosecutor's office, Horvat personally negotiated with the end buyer from Rivne region about illegal supplies. About 400 thousand hryvnias for one of them were transferred to the bank account of the deputy's wife. The total value of illegally sold timber is over 1 million hryvnias.
In June, the head of the Berehove forestry branch of "Carpathian Forest Office" SE "Forests of Ukraine" was notified of suspicion of abuse of power, which caused grave consequences.
According to materials of the investigation, during March-April 2025, the official, using his official position, established the sale of higher-grade oak timber. It was sold to enterprises without legal grounds.
Horvat family again in the media spotlight
It should be noted that this is not the first time the Horvat family has appeared in the news headlines.
In 2023, in Mukachevo, near one of the hairdressing salons, an unknown person set fire to a parked car belonging to Heorhiy Horvat. The moment the car was set on fire was captured by surveillance cameras. The car burned down completely. The police opened a criminal case under the article on intentional arson.
Horvat said that he came to the hairdresser's and at that time an unknown person set fire to the car parked near the establishment. According to the deputy, the car belongs to his wife.
In January 2024, an unknown person threw a grenade into the yard of Horvat's private house. As a result of the explosion, no one was injured.
In addition, in August 2025, his 17-year-old son Andriy Horvat was detained on suspicion of group robbery in Mukachevo of a disabled woman who moved to Zakarpattia from occupied Donetsk.
As reported by the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zakarpattia Oblast, in August, a 29-year-old native of Donetsk region contacted the police and reported that a familiar young man robbed her in the village of Kolchyno, Mukachevo district.
Police interviewed the applicant and found out that the suspect openly seized her bag, which contained documents, over 5,100 euros, and cash in national currency.
Using the capabilities of the criminal analysis department, it was established that a 19-year-old Mukachevo resident was involved in the robbery. In addition, during the investigation, it was found out that the suspect acted in collusion with a 17-year-old acquaintance, who turned out to be the son of Zakarpattia Oblast Council deputy Heorhiy Horvat - Andriy.
Both offenders were found by the police. Part of the money stolen from the victim was found and seized from them. The suspects were detained by the police and placed in a temporary detention facility.
A few days later, the court chose pre-trial detention for Andriy Horvat and his friend in the form of detention with the possibility of bail of UAH 9,992,000 for each.
On August 14, journalist Vitaliy Hlahola reported that Andriy's mother posted bail for her son in the amount of UAH 10 million, after which Horvat Jr. was released.
Horvat's foreign passport was seized, but now he is free again.
On August 21, the Zakarpattia Court of Appeal partially satisfied Horvat's appeal and applied a preventive measure to him in the form of "transferring the minor suspect under the supervision of his father, for a period until October 5, 2025".
The court also obliged Horvat's father to ensure the arrival of the minor suspect to the investigator, inquirer, prosecutor, investigating judge, court, as well as his proper behavior.
The ruling is valid until October 5, 2025, inclusive.
Hlahola also reported that later, by decision of the appellate court, the Horvat family was to be returned UAH 10 million in bail, and his friend Maksym Havrylets' bail was canceled and replaced with round-the-clock house arrest.
It should also be noted that it was claimed online that after the court released Andriy Horvat, Heorhiy Horvat allegedly went abroad.
"The reason for going abroad was a business trip from the regional council, but the real reason for the departure is the suspicion that was supposedly to be served on him the other day. What is interesting is that the border guards allegedly had an unspoken instruction not to let the deputy leave the country, but someone seems to have misunderstood it," claimed the Telegram channel Seredych.info on August 23.
The country to which Horvat allegedly left was not specified, but in 2022, information appeared online that he also had Hungarian citizenship, due to which he was added to the "Myrotvorets" database.
Horvat himself then stated that the information was fake.