Leaders of the Southern Interregional Directorate of Forestry and Hunting (Mykolaiv) of the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine have been detained due to extortion of money from those wishing to take the exam and obtain a hunting license, which granted the right to hunt.
This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).
The officials started "earning" at the beginning of 2024. Specifically, the head of the department, Oleh Tkach, in collusion with his deputy Bohdan Lozyan and another subordinate, organized a system of extortion of money from those who wanted to take the exam and obtain a hunting license in Odesa.
They developed a mechanism of manipulation during the exams for obtaining the license.
To implement the plan, they involved members of the examination commission, who were responsible for conducting the exams and ensuring the desired results.
The "fee" for successfully passing the tests was from 2000 UAH per candidate. In total, the officials received more than 100,000 UAH in illegal benefits. They were detained while receiving the next installment.
According to operational data, during the scheme’s operation, officials earned at least one million UAH issuing 500 hunting licenses. Three individuals have been notified of suspicion of illegal receipt of undue advantage by an official, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons (part 3 of article 368 of the Criminal Code).
Activist Oleksandr Hromov notes that the officials were detained for a bribe of 5,000 dollars. He claims that this issue was agreed upon with the head of the State Forest Agency, Viktor Smal, with a conversation regarding these funds allegedly recorded by law enforcement. Hromov adds that there is a scheme with the allocation of hunting grounds, organized by Smal and the head of the hunting department of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine,” Ivan Sheremet.
In addition, in the Zhytomyr region, the investigation into the allocation of 16,000 hectares of hunting grounds in the Baranivka branch of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” for LLC “Forest-Polissya22,” connected with former director Yurchuk and the close circle of the former head of the Capital Office Sakhnyuk, has not been completed.