Corruption Case in the Southern Forestry Management

Under the supervision of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Odessa Regional Prosecutor's Office, three officials from the Southern Interregional Forestry and Hunting Management have been charged with receiving illegal benefits (part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the investigation, two of the suspects, holding managerial positions and abusing their authority, devised a corruption scheme for systematically obtaining illegal benefits from individuals seeking to obtain hunting licenses.

The officials developed a manipulation mechanism during the examination process for obtaining the license.

To implement their plan, they involved members of the examination commission responsible for conducting tests and ensuring a favorable outcome.

 The “fee” for successfully passing the tests was set at 2000 UAH per candidate. In total, the officials received over 100,000 UAH in illegal benefits. They were detained while receiving the next installment.

At the prosecutor's request, they were placed under preventive measures - detention with the possibility of bail. Matters regarding their suspension from office are being resolved.

The investigation is ongoing, and other individuals involved in the illegal scheme are being identified.

Pre-trial investigations are being conducted by the investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation in Mykolaiv.

Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a lawful manner and established by a court verdict.