A scheme to profit from landfill waste was uncovered in Mykolaiv

In the Mykolaiv region, authorities are investigating the illegal dumping of waste on agricultural land for sorting and the sale of recyclable materials. The court seized the confiscated documents and a cell phone.

The Center for Public Investigations examined the details of the case.

According to a ruling by the Novo-Odesa District Court dated October 1, 2026, officials from the municipal enterprise “Mykolaivkomtrans” and a businessman involved in the collection, transportation, and sorting of waste may have been implicated in the alleged scheme. Investigators are examining the possible involvement of company employees who may have provided access to recyclable materials, as well as the director of the municipal landfill, who may have facilitated the removal of waste without proper accounting and oversight.

According to the case file, waste was transported from the landfill in the village of Velyka Korenykha to a plot of land near the village of Zarichne in the Mykolaiv district. There, mixed household waste—including metal, plastic, glass, and paper—may have been sorted without the necessary permits or environmental protection infrastructure. According to the investigation, local residents were enlisted to perform the work without proper working conditions or personal protective equipment.

Law enforcement officials are also investigating the possible inclusion of false information in the environmental tax returns of the municipal enterprise “Mykolaivkomtrans” for the years 2022–2025.  

On September 10, 2026, during a search, law enforcement officers seized 1,898 pages of documents and draft records, as well as a Samsung Galaxy A04 cell phone. 

In August 2025, the police launched an investigation into possible abuses by officials of the Mykolaiv City Council during a tender for waste sorting. The project’s cost exceeded 1.25 billion hryvnias, and the contract with the contractor was planned to be signed for 25 years.

Анна Літман