More than 20 employees of the Belarusian Forestry Ministry were detained in criminal cases in March and April this year. Most of them are accused of taking bribes, while some are accused of timber theft through abuse of office.
Among those detained are forest wardens, forestry enterprise directors, and chief specialists from one of the state forestry production associations, the Forestry Ministry reported.
One of the accused, a forestry enterprise director in the Viciebsk region, allegedly facilitated the allocation of valuable logging plots to a private individual and the issuance of logging permits in June 2025. In return for his services, he received at least 240 rubles and part of a pig carcass weighing at least 20 kilograms.
Some of the accused were detained for arranging small-scale standing timber sales for private entrepreneurs and helping ship higher-quality lumber from mills than was specified in contracts.
In some cases, the bribes amounted to only several hundred rubles, though there were also large bribes. The head of one forestry enterprise in the Mahilyow region is accused of receiving an especially large bribe — nearly 240,000 rubles — from a representative of a commercial company in exchange for signing contracts for the sawing and transportation of coniferous round timber and ensuring timely payment for the services.
Some employees have already been dismissed from their positions under discrediting circumstances. The level of responsibility for a number of managers is still being determined for failing to exercise proper oversight over their subordinates.
