Environmental Prosecutor's Office: Most criminal groups exposed in forest and subsoil use
Kyiv • UNN
Over three years of work, environmental prosecutors have uncovered 101 organized criminal groups, 67 of which were in the forestry sector and 24 in the field of subsoil use, including a group involved in the illegal felling of centuries-old oaks in the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve, which caused UAH 59 million in damage.
Over the three years of work of environmental prosecutors, more than a hundred criminal groups have been exposed. Most of them were in the field of forestry - 67 and subsoil use - 24. This was announced by the head of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Prosecutor General's Office, Borys Indychenko, during a briefing on Tuesday, a correspondent of UNN reports.
In total, environmental prosecutors have exposed 101 organized criminal groups and criminal organizations. Most of them were in the field of forestry - 67 and subsoil use - 24
Citing an example of such crimes, Indichenko recalled the case of illegal felling of century-old oaks in the exclusion zone within the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve.
"The latest example. The Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office has served a notice of suspicion to a number of people, including the former head of a state-owned specialized enterprise, two law enforcement officers and several private entrepreneurs. As part of an organized group, they illegally cut down centuries-old oaks in the exclusion zone within the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve. The damage caused is estimated at UAH 59 million," Indichenko said.
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The decision to introduce environmental specialization of prosecutors was made in March 2021. April 23 - the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office was established in the Prosecutor General's Office. In September, the same prosecutor's offices were launched in regional prosecutor's offices.
