Officials who allocated land for Medvedchuk's estates in Zakarpattia were served with notices of suspicion
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have officially notified six individuals that they are under suspicion of organizing and coordinating a large-scale scheme to illegally dispose of more than 220 hectares of land belonging to the State Forest Fund in Zakarpattia.
It was on these seized territories that the private recreational cottage “Vedmezha Dibrova” was illegally built for former People’s Deputy and traitor Viktor Medvedchuk.
A comprehensive special operation to uncover this criminal offense was carried out in close cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police, with the direct assistance of the Department of Internal and Economic Security of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine.”
The Transcarpathian Regional Prosecutor’s Office is officially overseeing the proceedings in this high-profile case.
Investigators have gathered substantial evidence against former high-ranking officials who for years covered up the illegal use of the Carpathians’ recreational resources.
Among the key figures in the criminal proceedings are former forestry officials, the former head of the Volovets District State Administration, and the head of a private company, whose ultimate owner is the wife of Oksana Marchenko, a former member of parliament from the banned pro-Russian party OPZZh.
Specifically, charges have been filed against the head of the regional forestry and hunting enterprise and three heads of district forestry and hunting enterprises, the former head of the Volovets District State Administration, and the director of a company involved in a scheme to illegally use over 220 hectares of forest.
The scale of the losses inflicted on the state and the value of the misappropriated property are record-breaking for the region.
“This involves a 226-hectare forest area on which the ‘Vedmezha Dibrova’ dacha was illegally built for the traitor Viktor Medvedchuk. According to calculations by the state-owned enterprise ‘Forests of Ukraine,’ the value of the land is 2.5 billion hryvnias,” the statement reads.
Part of this territory was transferred to a private company back in 2013 for long-term temporary use for recreational purposes, but the terms of the agreement were grossly violated.
At the time, official documents referred to the construction of a sports and recreation complex for a soccer club; however, the land actually ended up under the control of the oligarch’s family, who used it for their own leisure activities.
According to the investigation, officials from forestry and hunting agencies, fully aware of the designated purpose of these lands, approved and signed an agreement that allowed the use of state-owned forest for recreational purposes.
During the investigation, law enforcement officials determined that more than 220 hectares of forest had in fact been illegally seized and fenced off. The total length of the fence is about eight kilometers, which completely isolated the state-owned land from the local community.
On this territory, for the personal use of the sanctioned oligarch’s family, estates with a total area of approximately 2,800 square meters were built, a helipad, a cheese factory, a stable, a restaurant, a five-car garage, and other facilities unrelated to forestry operations.
Thus, the state-owned forest was effectively used as a private, gated recreational area.
The role of officials who, over the years, were responsible for the protection and rational use of forest resources in this area is being investigated separately.
According to the investigation, due to their failure to properly perform their official duties, no measures were taken to stop the illegal use of forest lands or to restore the lawful regime for their management.
Depending on the role of each suspect, they are charged with unauthorized occupation of a land plot committed by a group of individuals, abuse of power, and official negligence resulting in serious consequences.
This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigations.
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