Based on materials of the SBI, the officials of the State Land Agency of Zakarpattia will be judged for illegal transfer of protected lands in Uzhhorod to private ownership

The employees of the State Bureau of Investigations have completed a pre-trial investigation into four officials of the State Land Agency in Zakarpattia region who illegally transferred 2.6 hectares of land that belonged to the nature conservation fund in Uzhhorod to private ownership.

The indictment has been sent to the court.

These are lands that belonged to the botanical garden of Uzhhorod National University and were designated for nature conservation purposes.

The former first deputy head of the Head Office of the State Land Agency in Zakarpattia region, while performing the duties of head of the Head Office, signed orders that effectively removed these lands from the nature conservation fund.

He was served notification of suspicion in June, 2025.

Three state cadastral registrars from the State Land Agency in the Uzhhorod district were also involved in the criminal scheme. Acting in collusion with management, they entered distorted information about the boundaries of the Botanical Garden of the Uzhhorod National University into the State Land Cadastre.

This allowed for the illegal seizure of part of the land designated for nature conservation and the creation of new plots, which were transferred to figureheads under the guise of agricultural land.

In this way, officials facilitated the illegal privatization of land with a total area of more than 2.6 hectares, which was in permanent use by a higher education institution.

Such actions caused losses to the state in excess of UAH 1.35 million.

The actions of the defendants were classified under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—abuse of official position committed by a group of persons acting in collusion, which caused serious consequences for state interests.

If found guilty, each of them faces up to 6 years in prison.

The procedural guidance is provided by the Transcarpathian Regional Prosecutor's Office.