Over 190 ha of Chornobyl reserve used for agribusiness – prosecutor's office
Law enforcement officers have served suspicion notices on a former director and owner of a private enterprise and former heads of two village councils in Poliske district of Kyiv region who, according to the investigation, illegally removed more than 190 hectares of Chornobyl reserve land from state control, charging them with use of a knowingly forged document and fraud on an especially large scale, the Office of the Prosecutor General said.
"Under the procedural supervision of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office of the Office of the Prosecutor General, suspicion notices have been served on entrepreneurs and former officials who, according to the investigation, illegally removed more than 190 hectares of Chornobyl reserve land from state control," the prosecutor’s office said on Telegram Thursday.
The suspects are a former director and owner of a private enterprise and former heads of two village councils in Poliske district of Kyiv region.
According to the investigation, they fraudulently obtained the right of permanent use of three land plots in the Chornobyl zone – radiation-hazardous lands in Vyshgorod district that in 2016 became part of the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Reserve. The investigation established that the scheme was implemented on the basis of a fictitious decision of the Poliske district council that did not actually exist. The forged document was used to change the land status: the plots were illegally transferred to communal ownership and the right of permanent use was registered to a private enterprise.
Between 2020 and 2025, these lands were used as ordinary agricultural land – wheat and corn were grown there without special permits, which could have created risks to human life and health. The suspects are charged with use of a knowingly forged document and fraud on an especially large scale committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons. A motion for remand in custody has been filed with the court.
Prosecutors also filed a lawsuit with the Kyiv region Commercial Court seeking the return of the lands to the state, after authorized state authorities failed to take effective measures to protect state interests and return the radiation-contaminated lands to state ownership. The court has already opened proceedings in the case.
In accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
