National Park Officials in Mykolaiv Suspected of Embezzling

The management of the National Nature Park "Beloberezhya Sviatoslav" was detained in the Mykolaiv region. They are suspected of receiving "kickbacks" from employees' bonuses - in two years they collected more than five million hryvnias. The sanction of the article provides for up to ten years in prison.

According to the department, starting in 2022, the park director, along with his deputy and chief accountant, "took away" the 200 percent bonus from their salaries from ten subordinates every month. In case of non-payment, the employees were threatened with dismissal and dismissal from the staff.

Over the course of two years, officials managed to defraud subordinates of over five million hryvnias.

Law enforcement officers detained the officials on December 26, 2024, when they were receiving 340 thousand hryvnias in monthly collection money from employees.

As of December 30, the management was informed of suspicion of extortion and receiving illegal benefits. They were taken into custody with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 180 thousand hryvnias for the deputy director, and 601 thousand hryvnias each for the director and accountant.

We previously reported that the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of Chernivtsi Region transferred to the NABU and SAP criminal proceedings on suspicion of the director of the Khotynskyi National Nature Park, Heorhiy Popovetsky, of receiving $65,000 in illegal gain. The investigation into the case was extended until April 10, 2025 inclusive.

In addition, recently, the Director of the Department of Environmental Protection and Climate Change Adaptation of the Kyiv City State Administration, Oleksandr Vozny, was reported on suspicion of receiving a bribe .