Involved in the illegal sale of valuable oak timber worth over UAH 1 million: Zakarpattia Oblast Council deputy Horvat served with notice of suspicion

Prosecutors have reported suspicion to Zakarpattia Oblast Council deputy Heorhiy Horvat, who is involved in the illegal sale of valuable oak timber worth over UAH 1 million. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, according to UNN.

Details

According to UNN sources, the person in question is Zakarpattia Oblast Council deputy Heorhiy Horvat.

Prosecutors have established the involvement of the Zakarpattia Oblast Council deputy in the illegal sale of valuable oak timber worth over UAH 1 million. The deputy has been notified of suspicion. The suspect is the head of the relevant committee of the oblast council and, instead of controlling the forest sector and protecting nature, co-organized a scheme for the illegal sale of valuable oak timber. According to the investigation materials, the people's deputy acted in collusion with the head of one of the forestries. This refers to a crime that law enforcement officers uncovered in June 2025. As previously reported, the head of the Berehove forestry branch of the "Carpathian Forest Office" of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" established the sale of higher-grade oak timber without legal grounds.

It is reported that 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.

The oblast council deputy personally negotiated with the end buyer from Rivne region about illegal deliveries. About 400,000 hryvnias for one of them were transferred to the bank account of the deputy's wife. The total value of illegally sold timber amounts to over 1 million hryvnias.

The head of the Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor's Office reported suspicion to the deputy for transporting and selling illegally felled trees by prior conspiracy of a group of persons, which caused grave consequences (Part 4 of Article 246 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Addition

In June, the head of the Berehove forestry branch of the "Carpathian Forest Office" of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" was notified of suspicion of abuse of power, which caused grave consequences.

According to the investigation materials, 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.

In 2023, in Mukachevo, near a barbershop, 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 barbershop 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.

The police have currently opened criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Article 194 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (intentional damage to someone else's property by arson).