"Samopomich" and the BPP Have Joint Corruption Schemes in the Forestry Sector

Self-Help (Samopomich) and Batkivshchyna (Batkivshchyna Party) have joint corruption schemes in the forestry sector

In Ukraine, a corruption scheme in the forestry sector has been exposed, causing multi-million hryvnias in material damage to the state. This was announced by Vitaliy Kupriy, deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada committee on legislative support of law enforcement activity. As a result of criminal conduct during an auction for the sale of forests, the head of the Sumy regional forestry and hunting administration, V. P. Chighrynts, and the Sumy Resource Exchange Ltd. incurred losses to the state amounting to 5 million UAH. This auction took place on 12 February 2015 of the year. A criminal case has been opened by the Internal Affairs Directorate of Sumy region and is under the supervision of the Sumy regional prosecutor’s office. Parliamentarian Vitaliy Kupriy informed Sumy governor Mykola Klochek, a ally of Petro Poroshenko and guarantor of legality in the region, about this. “Mr. Klochko, in response to my parliamentary inquiry, promised to respond to the blatant plundering of the state. But instead, 13 of March 2015 of the year, a second auction was held, as a result of which the state’s losses already reached 10 million,” emphasizes Vitaliy Kupriy. The deputy informed the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Oleksiy Pavlenko about a collusion to depress the forest price below market value. 20 of February 2015 of the year, an informal meeting occurred between the founders of the Sumy Resource Exchange Ltd. and potential auction participants to force them not to bid, not to raise prices, intimidate buyers by removing them from bidding about price increases, and manipulate the size of the security deposit. During the meeting, the schemers claimed that Klochko and Chyhrynets stood behind them. All this led to a lack of competition at the auction. “I appealed to Minister Oleksiy Pavlenko, who was appointed by the Samopomich faction. I asked to initiate an official inquiry into his subordinates and bring them to responsibility,” the parliamentarian said. According to Vitaliy Kupriy, Minister Pavlenko does not respond to his appeal, does not conduct an audit, and plans to hold the next fraudulent auction. “Unfortunately, the temptation of illicit enrichment has prevailed over the Minister from Samopomich and the governor from Batkivshchyna. My colleague, MP Volodymyr Parasyuk, notes that corruption schemes involving timber are flourishing in Lviv region and in other regions of Ukraine. They amount to tens of millions of dollars,” concludes the deputy. Vitaliy Kupriy calls on the state leadership to immediately dismiss these individuals, hold them criminally liable, and recover the damages they caused to the state.

ORD