[Translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

The father of the Deputy ecologist and his partners illegally received part of the reserve for a beryllium deposit from the Ukrainian Geological Survey - investigation, 31 March 2023

The Main Directorate of the National Police in Zhytomyr region is conducting a pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings...which concerns the allegedly illegal issuance of a special permit for the use of the beryllium deposit by Perzhanska Ore Company LLC...

According to the investigation, officials of the Ukrainian Geological Survey, “abusing their official position, acting intentionally, with the aim of obtaining an unlawful benefit for a legal entity”, in violation of the law, “appointed an auction for the sale of a special permit for the use of subsoil for the purpose of extracting beryllium ores of the Perzhansky deposit of the Olevsky district of the Zhytomyr region”, which “caused serious consequences for the rights, freedoms and interests of the state protected by law in the form of a negative impact on the object of the nature reserve fund – the Polissya nature reserve of national importance”.

The pre-trial investigation established that, according to the announcement on “Prozorro.Prodazhi” dated April 22, 2019, the Ukrainian Geological Survey sold a special permit for the use of the subsoil of the Perzhansky beryllium ore deposit to LLC “Perzhanska Ore Company” for UAH 76 million. Investigators say that the Perzhansky deposit also includes the Yastrebetske deposit, in particular, the South-Western section of the Yastrebetske deposit in the Olevsky district. “Perzhanska Ore Company” received the right to engage in geological exploration on this land plot. At the same time, “it was established that the specified plot, for which an auction was announced to obtain a special permit for the use of the subsoil, is partially located in a protected area,” so the subsoil business cannot operate on this plot, because it is illegal. Also, investigators indicate, geological study of the plot, which partially lies on the territory of the reserve, is impossible without disturbing the soil cover, green spaces, and organizing transport access, and, accordingly, is prohibited by law...

The founders of LLC “Perzhanska Ore Company” are the Cypriot company “BGV Group ltd” (83.3%), Oleksandr Nastenko (8.4%) and Vitaliy Yakymenko (8.3%) – the father of the Deputy, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Protection and Rational Use of Subsoil of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Environmental Management Pavlo Yakymenko. The beneficiary of “Perzhanska Ore Company” is Gennady Butkevych – co-owner of the “ATB-Market” chain...

“Perzhanska Ore Company” reviewed the text of this material for publication and provided a comment...

“Perzhanska Ore Company LLC purchased a special permit to use the subsoil of the Perzhanska beryllium ore deposit at an open auction on April 22, 2019. The process took place transparently, on the relevant platform “Prozorro.Prodazhi”, which officially and independently administers the electronic trading system in Ukraine...The procedure for purchasing the special permit took place in compliance with all legal requirements, mandatory procedures and appropriate accountability of processes...

LLC "Perzhanska Rudna Kompaniya" does not conduct and does not intend to conduct its activities within the Polissya Nature Reserve in any format, and accordingly does not cause any negative impact on the environment. The licensed area of ​​the deposit is only partially projected onto the contours of the reserve, but the company's activities in this zone are absent. Currently, "Perzhanska Ore Company" is making changes to the special permit, namely: it intends to abandon part of the licensed area that has a projection onto the Polissya Nature Reserve...

Representatives of our company maintain close contact with the local community, environmental activists and specialized specialists to provide information about the company's activities and openly demonstrate the zone where which extends the company's activities in the exploration and production of ores...