Sarnenske Forestry Head Suspected of Bribery
Law enforcement officers have exposed the head of the Sarny Forestry Department of the state enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" for receiving more than 3 million UAH in bribes. For the money, the official promised entrepreneurs not to hinder logging and to help them win tenders. This was reported on August 27 by the press services of the State Bureau of Investigation and the Prosecutor General's Office. According to the investigation, the head of the Sarny Forestry Department demanded a bribe from a representative of commercial structures that had concluded a contract with the state enterprise for the provision of logging services. Thus, the official established the amount that they were to pay during 2025. In May, it was 40 UAH for each cubic meter of felled wood, and in July it increased to 60 UAH.
Law enforcement officers are not disclosing the name of the detainee, however, according to information from the Rivne24 publication, it is Vasyl Shpakovsky, who has been the director of the Sarna Forestry Branch since January 2024, and before being appointed to the position, he worked as the chief engineer of this forestry enterprise.
The total amount of tribute for three months of work of the contractor was 3 million UAH. For this money, the suspect guaranteed recognition of the entrepreneurs as winners according to the results of the next tender procurements. He also promised trouble-free approval of the acts of acceptance and transfer of works and services under future contracts for the provision of logging services
In case of refusal, the head of the forestry threatened to make it impossible to provide logging services. He also referred to the support of other high-ranking officials of the Polissya Forest Office branch. In the first half of August, he received UAH 500,000 in compensation, and the other day the remaining tranche - UAH 2.5 million.
During searches in the suspect's car, the entire amount of bribe he was keeping for distribution among other participants in the deal, who are currently being identified, was found.
Currently, the head of the forestry department of the "Polish Forest Office" branch has been charged with suspicion under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obtaining unlawful benefit in an especially large amount, by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, combined with extortion). The sanction of the article provides for up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
As a reminder, in Chernivtsi, law enforcement officers exposed the former director of the housing and communal services department of the Chernivtsi City Council for embezzling money during the repair of the runway of the municipal enterprise "Chernivtsi International Airport".
We also reported that a deputy of the Obukhiv City Council of the Kyiv region was suspected of receiving a $5,000 bribe for resolving a land issue.