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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
There is a systematic destruction of the forestry sector, — head of the Zhytomyr Regional State Administration
The failure of the reform of SE “Forests of Ukraine” is being covered up with talk about further industry development and the responsibility for its consequences is being shifted onto local communities.
This was stated by the head of the Zhytomyr RSA and chairman of the Zhytomyr Regional State Administration, Vitaliy Bunechko, during the congress hearings on reforming the forestry sector and its role in the development of communities.
Bunechko’s speech became one of the most resonant at the event. Instead of the expected talk about the successes of the reform, the head of the Zhytomyr RSA cited specific figures on reductions in employees, revenues to community budgets, and the supply of enterprises with timber.
"Since 2023 there has been a systematic destruction of the forestry sector. I state this authoritatively," Bunechko said.
According to him, before the start of the reform in 2021, about 5,5 thousand forestry specialists worked in Zhytomyr region. Now about 2 thousand remain.
"3600 people have been dismissed. That’s a reduction of almost 2,5 times. Most importantly, those who work directly in the forest were mainly cut," the RSA head said.
At the same time, according to him, the financial result of the reform for communities also turned out to be negative. Over 7 months of 2026, enterprises of SE “Forests of Ukraine” in Zhytomyr region paid 171 million UAH to the consolidated budget from an area of about 800 thousand hectares.
For comparison, Bunechko cited the example of "Zhytomyroblagrolis," which operates on approximately 390 thousand hectares and, he says, paid almost 365 million UAH.
Another problem is supplying raw materials to the wood-processing industry. Bunechko said that more than 60% of the capacities of wood-processing enterprises in Zhytomyr region are idle, depriving the budget of tax revenues. At the same time, local businesses are forced to import timber from Poland and Romania.
"Ukrainian business in the most forested region of Ukraine is forced to buy timber abroad and bring it here," he said.
According to the RSA head, since 2022 the import of commercial timber has increased by 14 times — from 50 to 700 thousand tons per year.
Bunechko directly raised the question of responsibility for those who carried out the reform.
The problems Bunechko speaks of arose recently. In April, President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were "unresolved critical problems" in the forestry sector and the need for new personnel approaches.
After that, attempts were made within SE “Forests of Ukraine” to improve the situation by changing leadership, but so far they have failed. In particular, the President’s orders have met strong resistance from the management of SE “Forests of Ukraine” and the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine, namely — Yuriy Bolokhovets and Viktor Smal.
Despite preliminary agreements, in early July they staged a personnel demarche and tried to remove the current head of SE “Forests of Ukraine,” previously deputy minister Ihor Zubovych, and appoint Yuriy Bolokhovets in his place again.
The Cabinet of Ministers had to respond and suspended Viktor Smal pending an internal investigation. The disciplinary proceeding term expired — but the new sector minister Taras Vysotsky recently personally informed GALRU employees about Smal’s “pardon.” Yuriy Bolokhovets formally remained person No. 2 in SE “Forests of Ukraine,” but in fact he fully took control over the official head Ihor Zubovych. The latter even amended the company’s Charter so that Yuriy Bolokhovets could travel abroad on personal business, where his wife and daughter are currently located.
Bolokhovets’s immunity is linked to special relations between him and former Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. In particular, before her resignation Yuliia Anatoliivna organized the appointment, as the state’s representative to the Supervisory Board of SE “Forests of Ukraine,” of an employee of the so-called Office of Effective Reform (BRDO), Iryna Hruzynska, who at the same time is a member of the Public Council of DALRU and a longtime associate of Yuriy Bolokhovets in matters of the alleged forestry reform. Vitaliy Bunechko has for many years criticized the model of forestry management proposed by Yuriy Bolokhovets and Viktor Smal. This is not his first public statement on the matter.
At the same time, since December of last year, Yuriy Bolokhovets’s activities have been under constant criticism from the expert community and are the subject of law enforcement investigations. In particular, NABU is conducting an investigation into possible illegal enrichment by him, but this process has been accompanied by strange events.
On 10 March 2026, the Panel of Judges of the Court of Appeals of the High Anti-Corruption Court canceled the suspicion against Yuriy Bolokhovets on the grounds that the procedural actions of the investigative judge did not correspond to the real circumstances, and therefore the evidence was deemed inadmissible. Thus, the work to collect evidence against Yuriy Bolokhovets was annulled, but criminal proceeding No. 62023000000001002 dated 14.11.2023 is formally still being investigated by NABU, although in fact it is stalled. This suggests a certain influence of anti-corruption bodies on the country’s chief forester.
At the same time as the congress hearings in Ivano-Frankivsk, a video report by the deputy chairman of the public organization "Open Forest" about fraud in the trade of products of SE “Forests of Ukraine” caused a certain resonance in industry circles. The general public was informed about:
▪️fraudulent schemes involving the supply of substandard material for the Armed Forces under the guise of quality material;
▪️fraudulent schemes with firewood for the population;
▪️exchange manipulations with nonexistent goods and the creation of conditions to seize business funds against their will.
The person named responsible for the current activity of shadow schemes in the exchange trading of timber was former member of the National Commission for Securities and Stock Market (NSSMC), who went through lustration during Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency, Oleksiy Petrashko. He took over from the dismissed NSSMC chairman Ruslan Mahomedov in 2025. The scheme also actively involves current NSSMC member Arsen Ilyin and the owner of LLC “Ukrainian Energy Exchange,” Oleksiy Dubovskyi.
The organizers of the congress hearings stated the need to develop a new model for the development of forestry taking into account the interests of territorial communities. Regions also urged the new leadership of SE “Forests of Ukraine” and the relevant ministry to consider their position and solve the accumulated problems in the sector.
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