In Lviv district, an indictment has been submitted to court against the director of a health and wellness sanatorium, who is accused of the illegal extraction of underground mineral water worth almost 920,000 hryvnias. This was reported on the basis of materials from the police and the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation established that the head of the sanatorium, knowing that in November 2020 the special permit for the extraction of underground mineral water from a borehole on the territory of the Velykyi Liubin deposit had been suspended, continued to operate it.
According to law enforcement officers, by mid-May 2023 almost 2,000 cubic metres of mineral water had been illegally extracted from the borehole. As a result, damage was caused to the local territorial community in a total amount of about 920,000 hryvnias.
The director was exposed by investigators of Police Station No. 1 of Lviv District Police Department No. 2 together with operatives of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police, under the procedural guidance of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The official has been notified of suspicion of committing a criminal offence under Part 2 of Article 240 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the rules for the protection or use of subsoil, illegal extraction of mineral resources). The sanction of the article provides for a fine of three to five thousand tax-free minimum incomes of citizens, or restriction of liberty for up to three years, or imprisonment for the same term.
The pre-trial investigation has now been completed, and the indictment has been submitted for consideration by the court. Law enforcement officers remind the public that underground mineral waters are classified as mineral resources of nationwide significance, and their illegal extraction is punishable under the legislation of Ukraine.