Prime Minister of Ukraine called for the dismissal of the head of the territorial department of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine

"I have urged to dismiss the head of the Zakarpatia Regional Forest and Hunting Department in response to numerous cases of illegal logging in the region. There won’t be "black lumberjacks" under the guise of the territorial departments of the State Forest Resources Agency," Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk said on the outcomes of the meeting with the representatives of the territorial bodies of the State Forest Resources Agency headed by the newly appointed chairman Andrii Zablotsky.

The Head of Government expressed his belief that "brazen looting of the Ukrainian forest resources will become history", none will turn a blind eye to the existence of the gray timber market.

"Anyone who has plans to further plunder state resources thinking that he will escape punishment as he used to - will be dismissed. And after investigation by the relevant law enforcement agencies, they will be held accountable," the Head of Government assured.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk has commissioned the new head of the State Forest Resources Agency to carry out a large-scale audit of enterprises and to make appropriate personnel decisions on the results. These are the following regions: Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, Zakarpatia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, Lviv, Volyn.

"Due to illegal deforestation, the state has suffered losses of over UAH 1 billion in the last few years alone. This is an intolerable situation," Oleksiy Honcharuk emphasized. "The law will be valid in Ukraine. All those involved in corruption will be dismissed and, on the results of the investigation, prosecuted."