Court recovered over 1.8 million UAH from the community for illegal cutting of 113 trees
The Kremenets District Prosecutor’s Office filed a lawsuit with the Economic Court of the Ternopil region against a local government body to recover 1,802,969.60 UAH in damages caused by violations of environmental protection legislation. This was reported by the Economic Court of the Ternopil region.
The basis for the lawsuit was the illegal cutting of trees in a forest tract. The violation was discovered during an inspection conducted by the State Environmental Inspectorate. Following the inspection, an act was drawn up documenting the fact of illegal logging and determining the amount of damage caused to the environment.
After reviewing the case materials, the Economic Court of the Ternopil region agreed with the prosecutor’s arguments.
The court established that the illegal logging is confirmed by evidence contained in the case materials, in particular by the act of a scheduled inspection of compliance with environmental protection requirements, prepared by employees of the State Environmental Inspectorate. According to this document, 113 trees of various species were illegally cut down in the forest tract: 29 pines, 24 cherries, 35 oaks, 7 hornbeams, 3 ashes, 3 beeches, 5 elms, 2 aspens, 2 birches, and 3 maples.
As the court found, the cutting took place on reserve lands designated for forestry purposes, which are not owned or used by a permanent forest user. It was not possible to identify the persons involved in the illegal logging. At the same time, the local government body is responsible for the territory where the violation was detected.
In view of this, the court concluded that the defendant, according to the requirements of the legislation, was obliged to ensure the protection of the forest, which is not transferred for use and is located within its territory, including protection from illegal logging. However, this duty was not fulfilled, which led to the illegal cutting of 113 trees.
As a result of the case review, the court fully satisfied the prosecutor’s claim and ordered the local government body to pay 1,802,969.60 UAH in damages caused by the violation of environmental protection legislation.
Subsequently, the Western Appellate Economic Court agreed with the conclusions of the court of first instance and left its decision unchanged.
You can review the decision of the Economic Court of the Ternopil region dated February 26, 2026, in case No. 921/698/25 and the ruling of the Western Appellate Economic Court dated July 6, 2026, in the same case in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.
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