The Security Service of Ukraine exposed and blocked the extraction of minerals in Kharkiv region. The state lost almost UAH 65,000,000 (USD 2,407,408) by the actions of a businessman.

SBU operatives found that the founder and director of one of the farms had organized sand mining on the territory of Vovchansk district. The businessman, in violation of the law, removed a layer of fertile soil on agricultural land and created two quarries without any permits. For several months in 2019, the offender illegally mined and sold almost 100,000 cubic meters of sand using heavy equipment.

Ukrainian law defines sand as part of a useful nationwide and regional importance that can be extracted with the appropriate license, mining, deposit development plan and other permits.

Within the framework of initiated criminal proceeding, law enforcement officers conducted a set of forensic examinations including soil, construction and technical, engineering-environmental and forensic-economic.  In the course of examinations, experts found that mining has led to soil fertility losses, agricultural trafficking and environmental risks.  This resulted in more than UAH 65,300,000 (USD 2,418,519) of state losses.

Currently, the owner of the farm has been served a suspicion notice of committing the crime stipulated by Part 4 Art.240 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The article provides from five to eight years of imprisonment.

The exposing and documenting of the crime was carried out jointly with the Main Department of the National Police in Kharkiv region under the procedural supervision of the Regional Prosecutor's Office.