Timber smuggling: an Odesa court sentenced a Latvian citizen who tried to illegally export pine

 Based on materials of detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Odesa region, an Odesa court found a man guilty of attempting to export timber to Latvia using forged documents.

It was established that a citizen of the Republic of Latvia registered a company in Odesa specializing in sawmilling and planing. Subsequently, the suspect submitted documents containing knowingly false information for customs clearance of exports through the Olevsk post of the Zhytomyr customs.

The exporter's tax invoice stated that during January-February 2025, the enterprise purchased nearly 32 cubic meters of round pine stakes worth over 285,000 UAH. However, the VAT declarations for the same period show that the enterprise did not conduct any transactions for the purchase or sale of goods.

A forged certificate regarding the legal origin of the timber was also attached to the customs declaration.

Based on the results of the investigative actions, detectives seized a vehicle with a trailer loaded with 23 packages of round pine stakes with a total volume of 31.4 cubic meters and a value exceeding 1 million UAH.

The court found the entrepreneur guilty of committing a crime under part 2 of art. 15 and part 1 of art. 201-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (smuggling, meaning the movement across the customs border of Ukraine outside of customs control or with concealment from customs control of timber or lumber of valuable and rare tree species, unprocessed timber, as well as other timber prohibited for export outside the customs territory of Ukraine). The man was sentenced to a fine.

Operational support was provided by officers of the Zhytomyr customs. Procedural guidance was provided by prosecutors of the Odesa regional prosecutor's office.