Prosecutors announce new suspicion in fuel oil merger case

Prosecutors of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office have served a notice of suspicion of large-scale land contamination with toxic waste in Izmail district of Odesa region to the director of a collective enterprise that manages a local solid waste landfill.

This was reported by the press service of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office.

He is accused of violating the procedure for environmental impact assessment, environmental safety rules during the operation of enterprises, which entailed other serious consequences (Article 236 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the investigation, the official allowed a maritime agency company to discharge hazardous liquid waste to a landfill without a mandatory environmental impact assessment and relevant licenses for the sake of profit.

The waste had a high concentration of oil products and was generated by washing out the holds of oil tankers. It was illegally removed from the port and taken to a landfill for disposal. According to the estimates of the State Environmental Inspectorate of the Southwestern District, such actions caused more than UAH 23 million in environmental damage.

As previously reported, the criminal scheme was organized by a deputy of the Safianivka village council. The company he founded was engaged in ship agency services on paper, but in fact it was used for illicit enrichment through toxic waste transactions.

Currently, the indictment against the deputy is being heard in court. Other members of the group have already been convicted.

In July, the Izmail City District Court of Odesa Region approved an agreement between a resident of the region and the prosecutor on the man's plea of guilty to land pollution and abuse of power.

Кирило Бойко