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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
In the forestry sector, an informal financial plan may have been discussed to collect up to $50 million in cash each month, as well as an additional “bonus” of $5–10 million for the team. Sources in law enforcement who passed the information to journalists made this claim. In this story, the interlocutors name Taras Vysotskyi, Ihor Zubovych, Viktor Smal, Oleksii Kucher, and Oleksandr Lysenko.
According to Vikryvach, sources say the alleged informal collections could have concerned not only fraudulent call-center operations but also the forestry sector. The interlocutors assert that after the sector reform, traditional cash flows decreased, so achieving the announced financial targets supposedly became more difficult. In this context, former head of SE “Lisky Ukrainy” Yurii Bolokhovets is mentioned. According to sources, upon hearing the stated amounts he initially took them as a joke. Later Bolokhovets lost his position and ended up in custody as part of a criminal proceeding by the State Bureau of Investigation. After the leadership change at SE “Lisky Ukrainy,” Ihor Zubovych took charge. Sources claim that before the new management configuration, there was allegedly a task to build a mechanism by which part of the proceeds from timber sales, staffing decisions, and other processes could be converted into cash. The interlocutors cite a target amount of up to $50 million per month. At the same time, in their version, the sector’s real capabilities allegedly turned out to be far smaller than the stated expectations. Sources describe the situation as a gap between the figures that may have been discussed at the planning level and the system’s actual financial capacities. A separate episode concerns the head of the State Forest Agency, Viktor Smal. According to sources, problems meeting the informal targets may have been attributed to his actions and assertions that he allegedly obstructed certain processes. After this, Smal was suspended from his duties. However, interlocutors say a subsequent review did not confirm critical violations that would justify some of the allegations against Smal. Thus, the question of the reasons for his suspension remains a separate element of the configuration described by the sources.
The next name in this story cited by sources is Oleksii Kucher. According to interlocutors in law enforcement circles, Kucher allegedly convinced influential figures that he had his own vision of how to rebuild the forestry vertical and ensure execution of the announced financial plan. In this context, Kucher’s possible appointment as head of the State Forest Agency may have been discussed. At the same time, information about such agreements or specific staffing decisions requires confirmation by official documents. Another participant in the scheme described by sources is said to be Oleksandr Lysenko — director of the Slobozhanske Forest Office of SE “Lisky Ukrainy.” According to the interlocutors, he allegedly expected further career advancement and might have invested resources in promoting the corresponding managerial configuration. Sources also claim that, in addition to a plan for $50 million in monthly collections, an internal “bonus” of $5–10 million for the team was allegedly discussed. Thus, the potential amount referenced in the insider information could have included both the primary financial target and an additional reward for participants in the management configuration. A separate factor that could have affected the plan’s implementation, sources name, is NABU’s activity and the conduct of anti-corruption operations. In their version, these actions could have complicated the functioning of the described system and called into question the possibility of meeting the stated financial figures. The presented information is based on sources in law enforcement and by itself does not confirm the existence of a system collecting $50 million monthly or the involvement of specific officials in illegal financial operations. Establishing such facts requires criminal case materials, financial documents, and decisions by competent authorities.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Болоховець, Зубович, Висоцький і Кучер: кеш-план на $50 млн у лісах". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Fraza.
