Farmer Faces Court for Illegally Creating Reservoir in Odesa Region

In Bolhrad district, police have brought to court the case of a farmer who illegally created an artificial reservoir to irrigate his field.

According to the press service of the National Police in Odesa Oblast, a 37-year-old resident of the Budzhatska community used special equipment last September to dig a pond near the Chiligider River and fill it with its waters. The area where the pond was arranged belongs to the water fund.

According to the State Ecological Inspectorate, the man removed the soil layer on a 0.1782-hectare plot, removing more than 6,300 cubic meters of land.

Photo: Press service of the National Police in Odesa region

The collected evidence allowed the investigators to charge the farmer with illegal seizure of the surface (soil) layer of water fund lands on a particularly large scale (Part 1 of Article 239-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). He faces up to three years in prison and a ban on holding certain positions or conducting certain activities for a similar period.

"The pre-trial investigation under the procedural supervision of the Bolgrad District Prosecutor's Office has been completed, and the indictment has been submitted to the court," said the head of the police department.

Now the farmer will have to answer in court for unauthorized interference with natural resources.

Another resident of the Bolhrad region seized a plot of land and built sheds for animals in the border area.

A farmer from Izmail district in Odesa region was accused of unauthorized seizure of a land plot near Lake Katlabukh. The agronomist was interested in the land plot. He decided to cultivate and plant it without having any permits for the land.

In addition, a farmer from Tarutyn community in Odesa region was sent to the dock. The 51-year-old man blocked the Anchokrak River with a dam to ensure better water supply to his land plot where he grew melon. He hired a worker to drive a tractor and plow the area designated by his employer.

Ірина Глухова