In Vinnytsia region, ESBU detectives have referred a case of illegal timber export to the court

 Detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Vinnytsia region have completed a pretrial investigation into the use of forged documents and the illegal export of timber across the customs border of Ukraine. The indictment has been referred to court.

The investigation established that in 2025, an entrepreneur from the Vinnytsia region—a foreign national—sold a batch of oak lumber of unknown origin. The products were supplied to a Turkish company under a foreign economic contract.

To create the appearance of legal origin and obtain export permits, he entered false data into the supporting documentation. Specifically, he falsified the purchase of oak boards from three other individual entrepreneurs (FOPs) with whom no actual transactions had taken place. This allowed him to obtain a certificate of origin for nearly 20m³ of lumber and export it.

The entrepreneur has been notified of suspicion of committing criminal offenses under Part 1 and Part 4 of Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (forgery of official documents and use of knowingly forged documents) and Part 1 of Article 201-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (movement of timber prohibited for export across the customs border of Ukraine by concealing it from customs control).

The criminal proceedings have been sent to court with an indictment.

Operational support was provided by the Security Service of Ukraine in the Vinnytsia region. Procedural guidance is carried out by the Vinnytsia Regional Prosecutor's Office.

It should be noted that, according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court verdict.