yesterday at 10:58
,Ukraine
In Lviv Region, law enforcement uncovered a scheme of illegal destruction of Carpathian forest. Two officials of the Skole subsidiary forestry enterprise “Halsillis” are suspected of involvement in the illegal felling of more than 20,000 trees between 2019 and 2023. Preliminary estimates put the damages inflicted on the state at over UAH 112 million.
The suspects have been notified of charges: the chief forester and the acting chief forester of the enterprise. The investigation was conducted by operatives of the Department of Strategic Investigations in Lviv Region of the National Police, in cooperation with the State Bureau of Investigations.
According to investigators, over several years the suspects issued logging permits for so-called “sparse forest felling.” Ukrainian legislation, however, does not provide for this type of logging. Law enforcement believe the invented legal term was used to issue the required documentation.
The illegal logging was not only authorized but also incorporated into official forest management plans. Such documentation created an appearance of legality and allowed the destruction of forests to be concealed for years under the guise of routine economic activity.
As a result of the scheme, more than 20,000 trees were felled in Stryi District. On paper the documents appeared legitimate, so inspections did not immediately reveal the violations, although investigators consider the permits to have been fictitious.
Both officials have been charged under Part 4 of Article 246 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — illegal logging. The article provides for up to seven years of imprisonment. Preventive measures have already been imposed on the suspects.
The scheme uncovered in Lviv Region once again highlights the systemic problem of illegal logging in Ukraine. In the forestry sector, large-scale tree felling is often disguised as sanitary, maintenance or other formally legal procedures. In this case, investigators say the key instrument was the use of a non-existent type of logging, which allowed the actual destruction of forests to be legalized through official documents.
Similar cases have been recorded in other regions. In particular, law enforcement investigated industrial logging in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, where damages were estimated at a billion hryvnias. Scandals over tree felling also arise in cities: in Bucha, residents and activists reported the disappearance of trees in the city center, after which local authorities were forced to respond and promise compensatory planting.
Cases of this scale show that illegal destruction of green spaces remains not only an environmental but also a governance problem. Formally proper documentation can conceal significant violations, and the consequences of such schemes — from the loss of Carpathian forests to the deterioration of urban environments — are felt by local communities and the state alike.
