A deputy of a village council in Mykolaiv region illegally seized a land plot

The elected official, according to law enforcement, forged technical documentation for 21 hectares of land and illegally began cultivating it.

According to the Main Directorate of the National Police in Mykolaiv region, during the pre-trial investigation, police found that in the period from June 2020 to April 2023, the offender, having previously received knowingly forged state acts of private land ownership, developed technical documentation on land management and, knowing for certain that he had not been granted land ownership, applied to the state registrar to register his ownership of the land plots. After that, he began to cultivate them illegally.

"By his unlawful actions, the official caused damage to the Pervomaisk Village Council of Mykolaiv district in the amount of over UAH 400 thousand. The offender faces up to eight years in prison," the statement said.

Investigators of Police Department No. 5 of the Mykolaiv District Department initiated criminal proceedings over the incident for "fraud committed repeatedly on a large scale" and incitement to forgery of an official document and use of a knowingly forged document. In coordination with the Mykolaiv District Prosecutor's Office, the offender was served a notice of suspicion. The offender faces up to eight years in prison. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

Earlier, prosecutors proved in court that the Kazankivka village council illegally transferred 2 hectares of communal land worth more than UAH 33 million, which belongs to the Lagodivsky landscape reserve, to private ownership for farming. According to the law, the land of the nature reserve fund cannot be transferred to private hands. The Kazankivsky District Court upheld the claim of the Bashtanka District Prosecutor's Office to return the land plot of the nature reserve fund that was transferred to private ownership.

This is not the only case of land fraud in Mykolaiv region. For example, the prosecutor's office found that the Koblevo village council had transferred a 0.12-hectare land plot for gardening in the village of Koblevo into private ownership. Subsequently, this land plot changed hands several times.

Also in Mykolaiv region, a gymnasium principal was found to be making money by renting land belonging to the educational institution. The value of the land is almost 300 thousand hryvnias, the area is 10 hectares. This land plot is in permanent use of the Novofedorivska gymnasium of the Kazankivska village council and is intended for personal subsidiary farming.