30 June 2026
(PHOTO: State Environmental Inspectorate of the Southwestern District)
The State Environmental Inspectorate of the Southwestern District has filed a civil lawsuit seeking compensation for damages caused to the state as a result of the illegal harvesting of aquatic biological resources within the Tuzlovski Limany National Nature Park.
According to the Inspectorate, the amount of the claim exceeds 4 million hryvnias
The violation was discovered in late November 2025 during a joint environmental enforcement raid by state inspectors, police officers, and military personnel from the “Kurortne” Border Guard Service on Lake Alibey, near the village of Vesela Balka in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi District. Individuals who were fishing with gillnets without the proper permit within the nature reserve were detained.
The illegally caught aquatic biological resources were seized from the violators: 79 specimens of flathead flounder and 19 specimens of sharp-snouted mullet. Law enforcement authorities opened a criminal case regarding this incident.
On June 29, 2026, the Environmental Inspectorate filed a civil lawsuit seeking compensation for damages caused to the state as a result of illegal fishing within the nature reserve.
In July 2025, police filed an indictment with the court against two employees of the Lower Dniester National Nature Park, who are charged with poaching. Duringthepretrialinvestigation, law enforcement officials determined that the men, whose work involves wildlife conservation and scientific research in the lower Dniester River basin, under the guise of performing their official duties, were illegally harvesting biological resources for subsequent sale. The entirecatch—including silver carp, carp, pikeperch, catfish, bream, whitefish, and silver crucian carp—was transferred to a specialized facility for safekeeping during the investigation. According to the findings of an engineering and environmental assessment, the men’s actions caused the state losses exceeding 1 million 100 thousand hryvnias.
Кирило Бойко