In the Rivne region, a corruption scheme has been uncovered in the SE "Kostopil Forestry"

In the Rivne region, a corruption scheme has been uncovered in the SE "Kostopil Forestry"

State Enterprise "Kostopil Forestry": Corruption Scheme of Import.

The Rivne court issued a verdict in a case regarding the illegal export of timber to Romanian PPA INTEGRAL: (№620250 000000 00201).

Four accused individuals — forestry engineer Ruslan Binkovskyi, former shop manager Vasyl Vivdyuk, commercial agent Viktoriya Rybak, and former economist of the forestry and representative of the Rivne Chamber of Commerce and Industry Olha Kotenko — entered plea agreements.

From April 9 to June 11, 2024, an organized group operated on the territory of the "Kostopil Forestry" branch of State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine," which was involved in forging documents for the illegal export of raw wood materials. The group was led by the head of the production, procurement, and sales department (name concealed), who involved the following individuals in the criminal activity:

The scheme involved entering false information into official documents — inspection reports, loading acts, and customs declarations. Specifically, pine wood materials, classified as firewood for industrial use (code UKTZED 4401), were actually raw wood materials (code UKTZED 4403), the export of which has been banned in Ukraine since January 2017.

On June 12, 2024, railway wagons No. 63148571 and No. 63743686 were submitted to the lower yard of the branch in Kostopil (29 Burova St.). Binkovskyi and Rybak inspected the wood (86.661 m³ of pine logs) and composed an inspection report dated June 14, 2024, indicating false data about quality and grade. That same day, they prepared a loading act, also noting false characteristics of the wood.

Viktoriya Rybak prepared invoices and other documents, which were approved by the branch director and chief accountant, unaware of the criminal intent. These documents were used to obtain certificates of origin for the wood materials through the "EcoSystem" system. On June 14, the head of the department submitted a customs declaration to the Rivne Customs indicating that firewood was exported, although in reality, the wagons contained raw wood materials with a volume of 9.77 m³ worth 21,000 hryvnias. The crime was not completed, as on June 20, the State Bureau of Investigation conducted a search at the warehouse and discovered violations. The seized wood confirmed the attempt of smuggling.

The accused acknowledged their guilt and entered into plea agreements with the prosecutor of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office. The court approved these agreements, finding guilty:

Ruslan Binkovskyi and Viktoriya Rybak under Part 3 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (official forgery by an organized group) and Part 2 of Article 15, Part 2 of Article 201-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (attempted smuggling). Penalty: a fine of 102,000 hryvnias each, with deprivation of the right to hold positions with organizational and administrative functions for 1 year and 3 months.
Olha Kotenko and Vasyl Vivdyuk under Part 2 of Article 15, Part 2 of Article 201-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (attempted smuggling). Penalty: a fine of 102,000 hryvnias each, with deprivation of the right to hold similar positions for 1 year.