Former minister’s wife has lost her land in Bilychansky Forest

09.01.2024

There is a presidential decree, and the forest has the highest environmental protection status.

Remember the former government official’s plea bargain for 800 million UAH – “one of the largest donations to the Armed Forces of Ukraine”?

This was a plea bargain with former Minister of Ecology Mykola Zlochevsky, approved by the High Anti-Corruption Court.

The representative of the treacherous Azarov government was accused of organizing abuse of influence.

Now, imagine that the former Minister of Ecology (!) was involved in the illegal allocation of Bilychansky Forest land. And his wife owned plots in the forest. Not anymore. This has been reported by the regional prosecutor’s office. However, the prosecutor’s office does not name any surnames.

But I know the surnames of the owners, as I have been defending this forest for 15 years.

Actually, this is not the only forest that the family of the former Minister of Ecology decided to seize. In 2010, by direct order of the head of Kyiv Regional State Administration, Anatoliy Prysyazhnyuk, a company associated with Zlochevsky received 14 hectares. This was covered in a report by “Schemes”, journalist Maksym Savchuk.

It’s important to recall that at the end of last year, the Irpin court was considering the case of Zlochevsky’s namesake assistant. This politician, who was once not only in Azarov’s government but also a member of the “Party of Regions”, had an assistant named Oleg Nelin. In the cases concerning the Bilichansky Forest, the prosecution essentially, as a rule, wins, but in this case regarding the protection of the forest, it lost.

Judge Yana Shestopalova of the Irpin Court did not see that this plot was part of a natural reserve and denied the prosecutors’ lawsuit. This is despite the existence of a presidential decree and the forest having the highest level of environmental protection status. The prosecution has filed an appeal.

However, I emphasize that the prosecution wins most of the cases in court, and step by step, the plots are finally being removed from the cadastral map.

A screenshot from the cadastral map. The red areas in the forest indicate the plots that have been removed from the cadastre.

The forest has never been and will never be private property.

I know prosecutors who, together with their colleagues, printed each of the 501 lawsuits and spread them across rooms and corridors to organize them for court submission. One of them is Olena Siniakevych.

When I learned that she had somehow been suspended from her position after public scrutiny, there were sparks in her eyes. Everyone is mistaken. Sometimes even the civil sector makes mistakes. And then I told my colleagues about it.

Siniakevych was reinstated through the court and underwent a re-certification commission. I really want, through the prism of this victory in court when we reclaim our forest, as many citizens as possible to read Timothy Snyder’s article. About the 20 steps that allow us not to go into tyranny, and for us, it is very important now.

One of the very important points is “Institutional Defense.” Snyder placed it second after the first one (“Do not obey”), and here I quote him in full:

What should be done to prevent tyranny?

Timothy Snyder

American writer and historian

Institutions play an important role in maintaining order and dignity. They also need our help. Do not talk about ‘our institutions’ if you do not make them yours by your actions. Institutions do not defend themselves. They fall one by one if each of them is not protected from the very beginning. So choose an institution you like—a court, newspaper, law, or union—and by defending it, choose its side.

For 15 years, the prosecution has been defending our forest. For 15 years, those who work in this institution have really put in titanic efforts to make the magic of victory happen and for “in the name of Ukraine” to sound proudly and be on the side of the law.

Let’s appreciate this.

Specially for “Glavkom”.