Odesa Officials Arrested for Extorting Fees for Hunting Licenses

Law enforcers detained three officials of the Southern Interregional Forestry and Hunting Department in Odesa and served them with a notice of suspicion of receiving illegal benefits.

According to the press service of the State Bureau of Investigation, the head of the interregional department, in collusion with his deputy and another subordinate, organized a systematic extortion of those wishing to take an exam and obtain a hunting license in Odesa.

The officials forced their subordinates, members of the examination committee, to take a fee from those wishing to obtain a hunting license for passing the exam. In case of refusal, they threatened their subordinates with dismissal. They divided the money received among themselves.

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According to intelligence, during the period of the scheme, the officials managed to earn at least one million hryvnias by issuing 500 hunting licenses.

According to the press service of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office, the fee for successful completion of the tests was 2,000 hryvnias per candidate. In total, the officials received more than UAH 100,000 in illegal benefits. They were detained while receiving the next tranche.

On February 6, 2025, the SBI detained the offenders while they were distributing UAH 30 thousand received for positive evaluations. The three defendants were served a notice of suspicion of obtaining an unlawful benefit by an official, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons (Article 368(3) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

They were chosen as a measure of restraint in the form of detention for 60 days with an alternative to bail: the head of the interregional department - UAH 10 million, the accomplices - UAH 6 million each.

The sanction of the article provides for imprisonment for up to 10 years.

Кирило Бойко