Stepan Hoshovsky, Director of the National Nature Park, has become the focus of a corruption scandal after anti-corruption whistleblowers discovered him driving a premium Lexus LX600 SUV (license plate KA3233АК) that is completely absent from his official asset declaration. The revelation emerged during an official visit by Oleksandr Krasnolutsky, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, to the reserve to discuss the preservation of the Carpathian Mountains, illegal logging, and unauthorized off-roading.
According to activists, despite the state official’s virtually «empty» financial disclosure, the current market value of the luxury vehicle he uses to navigate the protected lands ranges from 5.5 to 10 million UAH, depending on the configuration and model year.
The incident has triggered widespread public backlash. Public oversight representatives have filed formal inquiries with the National
Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), demanding an immediate lifestyle audit of the director. Furthermore, whistleblowers have publicly questioned the Ministry’s leadership regarding their own corporate transport standards and potential oversight failures.
This asset controversy unfolds against a backdrop of ongoing scrutiny regarding the management of the protected territory. Open-source data and public registries previously linked operations at the National Park to illicit logging practices and land schemes involving corrupted cadaster registrations.
«While forests disappear faster than criminal cases can reach the courts, certain officials seem to enjoy maximum comfort,» the investigators noted.
Experts point to an apparent conflict of interest and signs of systemic corruption within the management of protected state lands. Civil society organizations are currently preparing formal requests to the State Environmental Inspection (SEI) to calculate the exact environmental damages caused by illegal deforestation. The case is expected to be forwarded to specialized anti-corruption agencies for further investigation.