Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / War and military activity · Ukraine · 2024–2026

Suspicion notices over UAH 49.2 million in farmland demining contracts, Mykolaiv oblast

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 2 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

On 22 June 2026 Ukrainian investigators reported that six people had been notified of suspicion over humanitarian demining of agricultural land that, according to investigators, was not carried out. The damage to the state was stated as UAH 49.2 million; no court outcome is on record.

UAH 49.2 millionDamage to the state stated by investigators (budget money transferred for demining of farmland in Mykolaiv oblast)
Six people notified of suspicion on 22 June 2026; no court outcome on record.

Status As of 19 October 2026: six people had been notified of suspicion (22 June 2026); no court outcome is on record.

What?
Six people were notified of suspicion over humanitarian demining of farmland that, according to investigators, was simulated, with UAH 49.2 million transferred from the budget. Finance.ua
Where?
Agricultural land in Kherson, Chernihiv and Mykolaiv oblasts; the UAH 49.2 million is stated for Mykolaiv oblast. Finance.ua
When?
Contracts and tenders in 2024-2025; suspicion notices reported on 22 June 2026. Finance.ua
Who?
Gained
  • Contractors under the HDC agreements — According to investigators, received budget money for work that was in fact simulated Finance.ua
Lost
  • The state budget — UAH 49.2 million stated as damage to the state Finance.ua
Harmed
None on record
Why?
None on record.
How?
According to investigators, contractors under agreements with the Humanitarian Demining Centre were to clear fields, the work was in fact simulated, false data were entered in documents and the head of an agricultural enterprise signed completion certificates. Finance.ua
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

According to the Office of the Prosecutor General and the National Police, as reported by Finance.ua on 22 June 2026, contractors under agreements with the Humanitarian Demining Centre (HDC) were to clear agricultural fields in Kherson, Chernihiv and Mykolaiv oblasts. Investigators alleged that the work was in fact simulated and that false data were entered in documents. Finance.ua stated the total damage to the state as UAH 49.2 million, transferred from the budget for demining in Mykolaiv oblast.

Six people were notified of suspicion: the heads of two private demining companies based in Kyiv, three demining team leaders and the head of an agricultural enterprise who signed completion certificates. Under Ukrainian procedure a notice of suspicion is a formal step in a criminal proceeding and not a conviction. The company heads were notified under Part 5 of Article 191 (misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office), Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 366 (forgery in office) of the Criminal Code; the team leaders and the head of the agricultural enterprise were notified under Part 5 of Article 27 (aiding), Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 366.

The contracts date from 2024-2025. The Accounting Chamber's audit of August 2025 of agricultural land demining separately found no accounting violations under the Compensation Procedure and flagged risks to the reliability of records.

  1. 2024Contracts and tenders under agreements with the Humanitarian Demining Centre begin (2024-2025)
  2. 2025Accounting Chamber audit of agricultural land demining (26 Aug) finds no accounting violations under the Compensation Procedure and flags risks to the reliability of records
  3. 2026Six people notified of suspicion (reported 22 Jun); damage to the state stated as UAH 49.2 million

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“the work was in fact simulated”

Investigators (Office of the Prosecutor General and National Police), as reported by Finance.ua · 22 June 2026 · translated from Ukrainian · Finance.ua

“total damage to the state is 49.2 million hryvnias”

Investigators (Office of the Prosecutor General and National Police), as reported by Finance.ua · 22 June 2026 · translated from Ukrainian · Finance.ua

“in fact no one checks the performance of the work”

Words recorded by investigators and attributed to the suspects, as reported by Finance.ua · 22 June 2026 · translated from Ukrainian · Finance.ua

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Law enforcement exposed fictitious demining of land worth almost 50 million hryvnias
    Finance.ua headline, reporting the Office of the Prosecutor General and the National Police · Finance.ua

Recorded

  • Six people were notified of suspicion: two company heads, three demining team leaders and the head of an agricultural enterprise who signed completion certificates.
    Finance.ua
  • The suspicion notices cite Part 5 of Article 191 and Part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code, among other provisions.
    Finance.ua
  • The Accounting Chamber's audit of August 2025 found no accounting violations under the Compensation Procedure and flagged risks to the reliability of records.
    Accounting Chamber of Ukraine

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Damage to the state stated by investigators (budget money transferred for demining in Mykolaiv oblast)49m
Stated by the Office of the Prosecutor General and the National Police, as reported by Finance.ua.
Currency: UAH · Window: 2024-2026. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2026–OngoingUAH 49.2m damage to the state stated by investigators
    Pre-trial investigation into simulated demining of farmland
    Office of the Prosecutor General and National Police (pre-trial investigation) · Criminal · Office of the Prosecutor General → Six people notified of suspicion: heads of two private demining companies, three demining team leaders and the head of an agricultural enterprise (not named)

    On 22 June 2026 six people were notified of suspicion. The company heads were notified under Part 5 of Article 191 (misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office), Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 366 (forgery in office) of the Criminal Code; the team leaders and the head of the agricultural enterprise under Part 5 of Article 27 (aiding), Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 366. The proceeding is at the pre-trial stage. Finance.ua

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Damage stated
UAH 49.2 million
Investigators, Mykolaiv oblast
People notified of suspicion
6
22 June 2026
Court outcome
None on record
As of 19 October 2026

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court case

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Record

  • None on record None on record: a court outcome; the six people were notified of suspicion and no trial or verdict is reported.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the names of the two companies and of the six people.
  • None on record None on record: a statement by the Humanitarian Demining Centre on the suspicion notices.
  • None on record None on record: a statement by the suspects or the companies.
  • Not measured Not measured: the condition of the land named in the contracts; no survey result is reported.
  • Unclear Unclear: whether the Kherson and Chernihiv contracts carry amounts separate from the UAH 49.2 million stated for Mykolaiv oblast.
  • None on record None on record: insurance cover or payment connected with the contracts.

Did the harm stop?

None on record.

Who paid?

According to investigators, UAH 49.2 million was transferred from the state budget. None on record: recovery of the money.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

Government and regulators

Press and investigations

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