HACC Appellate Chamber overturns suspicion against Bolokhovets, CEO state-owned Forests of Ukraine enterprise
The Appellate Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) overturned the suspicion against Yuriy Bolokhovets, CEO of the state-owned enterprise Forests of Ukraine, lawyer Volodymyr Vladymyrov reported on Facebook.
According to Advanq Law Firm (ADVANQ), which handled the defense, the court’s decision is final and cannot be appealed. The lawyer stated that the court found the charges against the state-owned enterprise’s director to be unfounded.
"Even before the case was transferred to the NABU, the investigators had done a tremendous amount of work, collecting a wealth of materials, but were still unable to find evidence of land seizure, the receipt and laundering of illegal funds, or abuse of office. Four of the five charges were not confirmed during the investigation, and in court, we were able to prove the groundlessness of the last one," Vladymyrov noted.
He emphasized that the reason for Bolokhovets’ persecution was the forestry reform, as a result of which "the old system was destroyed, and billions in revenues from the sale of state timber began to be paid into the budget."
The lawyer recalled that last year, Bolokhovets was held in custody for two months with an "unrealistic bail amount" set, and that his family, colleagues, and defense attorneys were also subjected to pressure and media attacks. He also expressed respect for the anti-corruption vertical for its objective analysis of the materials despite external pressure.
The press service of the State Enterprise Forests of Ukraine emphasized that the pressure on the CEO is due to his position on the implementation of transparent market mechanisms for timber sales and the de-shadowing of the forestry sector.
As reported, Bolokhovets was served with a notice of suspicion in July 2025. During the investigation, he remained in custody with the possibility of posting bail.
The State Enterprise Forests of Ukraine is one of the largest forest users in Europe and is under the jurisdiction of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine. The company manages 6.6 million hectares of state forest land.