SSU blocked the large-scale smuggling scheme of timber outside the customs territory of Ukraine, using forged documents. Allegedly, the perpetrators smuggled up to 30 trucks a month, which contained about 1,000 cubic meters of timber.

The SSU officers established that two enterpreneurs from Lviv region organized the illegal scheme The criminals forged documents to smuggle timber products to the EU. They involved officials of forestry entities of Sumy, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi and Kyiv regions.

Every month, the perpetrators paid foresters almost UAH 4 m (USD 149 500) for the purchasing of unaccounted raw materials and forged documents on the actual cubic mass and grade of products.

The law enforcement officers caught the perpetrators red-handed while giving bribes to the officials of forestry entities of Sumy region.

The investigative actions are underway to identify the involvement of the officials of other entities and institutions of the forest industry and to bring to justice the perpetrators for smuggling, taking and giving a bribe.

The operation was carried out by the officers and investigators of the SSU Office in Lviv region under the supervision of the Lviv Region Prosecutor's Office.