Over UAH 2.3 million in damages: case against former director of state institute who allowed 258 tons of fish to be caught "for research" sent to court

Prosecutors of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Prosecutor General's Office have sent a case to court against the former director of a state institute. The former official allowed the catch of over 240 tons of fish "for scientific research," causing damages to the state of over 2.3 million hryvnias.

This is reported by UNN with reference to the press service of the PGO.

Details

According to law enforcement officers, in 2018, uncontrolled commercial fishing of fish took place in the Sea of Azov under the guise of "scientific fishing." This became possible due to the actions of the then director of the state enterprise "Institute of Fisheries and Marine Ecology."

The former official gave private companies permission to catch fish allegedly for research. In fact, the catch amounted to over 240 tons, part of the resource was appropriated, and data on the catch were not included in the reports. According to experts, the state suffered damages of over UAH 2.3 million.

The official's actions were qualified as abuse of power (Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), which caused grave consequences for the state. The indictment has been sent to court.

To compensate for the damages caused, the State Agency of Ukraine for Land Reclamation, Fisheries and Food Programs filed a civil lawsuit.

Earlier, the director of the state enterprise "Institute of Fisheries and Marine Ecology" was notified of suspicion of abuse of power.

Recall

Law enforcement officers of the Kyiv region, together with employees of the Chornobyl Biosphere Reserve, detained three men who were illegally fishing near the Domantov Peninsula in the Dnieper, in the zone of radioactive contamination. Criminal proceedings were opened against the men. They face up to five years in prison.