Officials of the State Land Agency of Transcarpathia who illegally transferred protected lands to private ownership will be tried based on materials from the State Bureau of Investigation
Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation completed a pre-trial investigation into the case of four officials of the State Land Agency in Transcarpathia who illegally transferred 2.6 hectares of land from the nature conservation fund in Uzhgorod into private ownership. The indictment has been sent to court.
These are plots that were part of the territory of the botanical garden of Uzhgorod National University and had the status of nature conservation lands.
The former first deputy head of the Main Department of the State Land Agency in the Transcarpathian region, while performing the duties of the head, signed orders that actually removed these lands from the nature conservation fund. He was informed of the suspicion in June of this year.
Three cadastral registrars were also involved in the scheme, who, in prior collusion with the management, entered distorted data on the boundaries of the botanical garden into the State Land Cadastre. This allowed for the illegal withdrawal of part of the protected lands and the formation of new plots, which were transferred to fictitious persons under the guise of agricultural land.
As a result, the officials facilitated the illegal privatization of more than 2.6 hectares of land that was in the use of the university. The losses caused to the state are estimated at more than 1.35 million UAH. Their actions are qualified under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – abuse of official position by a group of persons, which caused grave consequences for state interests.
If proven guilty, each of the accused faces up to six years in prison. The procedural management of the case was carried out by the Transcarpathian Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
