Head of Mykolaiv Oblast Enterprise Avoids Punishment for Polluting Community with Chemicals

The head of an enterprise in Mykolaiv region was released from punishment in a case of land contamination with chemicals. The investigation revealed that the hazardous wastewater came from a private enterprise that had been polluting the community since 2016.

This is evidenced by the verdict of the Voznesensk City District Court of Mykolaiv Oblast.

The court in the Mykolaiv region considered a case of contamination of a 640-square-meter land plot in Voznesensk, which was linked to the activities of the private enterprise Sboyas. Soil contamination with chlorides and other harmful substances posed a danger to the environment and was detected along the company's fence on the communal land of the Buz village council.

According to the case file, the violations arose as a result of improper economic activity of the company and non-compliance with special rules for industrial waste management. Ecologists found that a liquid of unknown origin was leaking from the company's territory through a pipe in the fence, which caused chemical contamination of the soil. The fact of pollution was documented in an inspection report, and samples of a cloudy greenish-gray liquid were taken from the waste storage facilities and recognized as material evidence.

The accused in the case was the owner and director of the private enterprise Sboyas. She pleaded not guilty and stated that the company was not involved in the contamination of the land plot. According to her, the company operates industrial waste lagoons that have never leaked, and only drainage of rainwater was carried out through a pipe. She also noted that in 2016-2017, the company allegedly did not carry out activities related to the generation of hazardous waste, so it did not file the relevant declarations and did not receive permits.

In addition, the head of the company suggested that other facilities located nearby, including a private pig farm, Vozko LLC, a penal colony, and the sewage trucks of private carriers, could have been involved in the pollution.

At the same time, a representative of the Buzka village council confirmed in court that the contamination of the territory had taken place and was recorded along the fence of the Sboyas private enterprise by means of sewage drainage. Witnesses who worked or had previously worked at the enterprise described the technological process of leather processing, the generation of industrial waste and its disposal through a system of lagoons and sewage.

The court critically assessed the testimony of some witnesses who were in labor relations with the director of the enterprise, considering them to be interested in the outcome of the case. Earlier, the Voznesensk City District Court acquitted the company's director, but the Mykolaiv Court of Appeal overturned the verdict.

As a result, the court concluded that the owner of Sboyas PE was guilty of committing criminal offenses under the articles on land pollution and official negligence. She was fined UAH 34,000 and banned from holding organizational and managerial positions for two years. However, she was released from serving her sentence due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. She was also charged with more than UAH 11,000 in court costs for conducting examinations.

At the same time, the head of the private enterprise was left in custody in the Odesa pre-trial detention center. She was accused of polluting the waters of the Chornomorsk port. According to the investigation, she is the head of the private enterprise Frog Agroservice, which in 2021 purchased the Mars bunker from the state-owned Sea Commercial Port of Chornomorsk.

Анна Бальчінос