Ex-Municipal Worker and Entrepreneur in Lviv Region Accused of Causing Significant Environmental Damage
A former deputy head of municipal management responsible for landscaping in a town in Stryi District and a sole proprietor engaged in the placement and disposal of solid waste are accused of official negligence and contamination of land with household waste.
The suspects were uncovered by investigators from the Stryi District Police Department in collaboration with operatives from the Stryi Regional Department of the Security Service of Ukraine in Lviv Oblast, under the procedural guidance of the Stryi District Prosecutor’s Office.
Contract Breaches and Consequences
A series of contracts were signed between the municipal enterprise and the contractor, a sole proprietor, for the provision of services for the maintenance and use of a landfill. However, in violation of the terms of the contracts, during the period from 2020 to 2024, the entrepreneur disposed of solid waste not within the landfill area but beyond its boundaries, thereby contaminating surrounding lands. Meanwhile, the deputy head of the municipal enterprise failed to fulfill his official duties properly – he did not oversee the execution of the contracts, did not take measures to define the boundaries of the landfill, and did not initiate the development of a landfill operation project. Consequently, the environment suffered damage amounting to nearly 57.5 million UAH.
The pre-trial investigation has been completed.
Indictments and Possible Punishments
- As for the former official, an indictment under Part 2 of Article 367 (Official Negligence) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine has been submitted to the court. The article’s sanction includes a fine ranging from two thousand to four thousand non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens or corrective labor for up to two years, or restraint of liberty for up to three years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years.
- Regarding the entrepreneur, an indictment under Part 2 of Article 239 (Pollution or Spoilation of Land) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine has been submitted to the court. The article’s sanction provides for a restraint of liberty for a term of two to five years or imprisonment for the same term, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years or without such.