The SBU officers blocked illegal mining of over 500,000 CBM of granite in Zhytomyr region.

According to the investigation, the officials of a production department of the affiliated company Center for Industrial Management of Ukrzaliznytsia PJSC were engaged in the illegal mining during 2017-2018. The officials, who were entrusted to monitor execution of rules related to the protection of mineral resources, set up the illegal extraction of granite in the quarry belonging to the company. The SBU operatives documented that the criminals were mining granite on the territory of 60 ha. They sold granite to private firms.

It is established that the officials caused damage to the natural environment amounting to more than UAH 1.3 billion (USD 52.000.000).

The ex-manager of production department of the affiliated company Center for Industrial Management of Ukrzaliznytsia PJSC on February 28 was served a notice of suspicion of committing a crime under Art. 240 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine following the collection of evidence during the pre-trial investigation.

The investigations are under way.

The documenting of the deal was conducted jointly with the Main Investigation Directorate of the National Police.