As part of monitoring the lifestyle of senior Ukrainian officials, journalists analyzed the financial and property status of the head of the State Geology and Subsoil Service of Ukraine, Oleg Hotsynets. This is due not only to his income, but also to the unpleasant situation with companies potentially related to illegal mining in the Kyiv region.<\/p>\n
A team of journalists has been studying the problem of illegal mining in the Kyiv region for many years. In particular, they came across local businessman Valeriy Samofal, who, according to the investigation, was engaged in illegal sand mining in the village of Plesetske, Fastiv district, from 2014 to 2021.<\/p>\n
The case against Samofal and his wife was considered by the Vasylkiv City District Court. They were charged with unauthorized use of subsoil and significant deterioration of the environmental situation, estimated at over 500 million hryvnias. The companies of LLC “Transkom-19” filed claims for the same amount for damage caused to the state.<\/p>\n
Journalists believe that in 2021, Samofal could have tried to legalize its activities by obtaining a special permit for granite mining through an auction, which concerned the same area where illegal mining had previously taken place. Subsequently, amendments were made to the permit, which included sand in the list of minerals.<\/p>\n
However, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine found that during the auction, two companies affiliated with Valery Samofal actually competed. These actions were recognized as anti-competitive.<\/p>\n
According to the results of the investigation, both companies received fines that, according to journalists, do not correlate with the amount of environmental and financial damage caused.<\/p>\n
On December 9, journalists visited the State Service for Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine to obtain comments on the possible grounds for the cancellation of the special permit and the auction, but did not meet with the head of the service due to his sick leave. However, the journalists submitted their written complaint and prepared an appeal to the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office.<\/p>\n
During further analysis, the team found grounds to study the professional career of Oleg Gotsynets, who was born in Truskavets and worked at Ukrgazvydobuvannya before being appointed to his current position.<\/p>\n
According to the declaration, Gotsynets declared almost 2.8 million hryvnias in salary at Ukrgazvydobuvannya for 2023, as well as income from other sources.<\/p>\n
In addition, Gotsynets’ declaration lists numerous movable and immovable property, as well as significant cash assets.<\/p>\n
Among the movable property is a 2018 Toyota C-HR Hybrid, as well as real estate that is formally registered in the name of third parties, which raises questions about possible corruption risks.<\/p>\n
Hotsynets’ wife received social benefits, although the family is registered in another region, which sexually violates the legislation on conflict of interest.<\/p>\n
In addition, the declaration indicates significant cash savings, which raises questions about their origin.<\/p>\n
Some media outlets point to the possible political context of Hotsynets’ appointment, which took place immediately after the dismissal of the previous head. His candidacy is considered the only one, and it was probably agreed with certain political circles, which raises concerns about his future fate in office.<\/p>\n
The head of the State Service for Geoscience and Mineral Resources has already announced his intention to continue the course of transparency and investment in the subsoil use sector, nevertheless, the situation surrounding his appointment and declarations is of great public interest and requires further investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As part of monitoring the lifestyle of senior Ukrainian officials, journalists analyzed the financial and property status of the head of the State Geology and Subsoil Service of Ukraine, Oleg Hotsynets. This is due not only to his income, but also to the unpleasant situation with companies potentially related to illegal mining in the Kyiv […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":26755,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n