The head of a national park in Bukovyna was detained on a $65,000 bribe
11 October 2024 16:08
VIDEO
An official of a national park in Chernivtsi region was caught taking a $65,000 bribe. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Law enforcement officers detained the head of the Khotyn National Nature Park in Chernivtsi region, who demanded and received a bribe from an entrepreneur.
According to the investigation, the director of the national park set up a mechanism for making a profit from the illegal lease of land in the nature reserve fund. He covered up his illegal actions with fake cooperation agreements, for which he demanded undue benefits from entrepreneurs.
The Khmelnytskyi Territorial Department of the State Bureau of Investigation reported that the businessman approached the official to arrange a long-term lease of land plots in the National Park. The official told him that he would sign the lease for USD 65,000. For this money, he leased three land plots of 0.48 hectares to the entrepreneur for the construction of a recreation centre.
The entrepreneur decided not to pay the tribute and turned to law enforcement.
Law enforcers detained the director of the National Park red-handed while he was receiving USD 65,000 after signing the lease documents.
The director of the Khotyn National Nature Park was served a notice of suspicion of receiving an unlawful benefit under Article 368 (4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 8 to 12 years with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years, with confiscation of property.
He has now been remanded in custody with the possibility of being released on bail in the amount of UAH 2 million.
The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation.
According to the opendatabot platform, the head of the National Park since May 2023 is Heorhii Popovetskyi.
