The reason for the resumption of the conversation about the imperfection of the legal norms governing the hewing down of green spaces was another fact that attracted the attention of the public. The Head of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Belous in the course of the meeting reported on the appeal dated April 3 from citizens informing about unlawful, according to the applicants, destruction of oak plantations in Popov wood area of Grigoriopol district. Specialists of the specialized department, having arrived, found out that the hewing down is carried out on the basis of the relevant order of the PMR Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The notification of Grigoriopol administration is documented, however, as it turned out, after the fact. In the course of the audit, to which the Head of the environmental control service was involved, it was established that there was no sanitary cutting down - a high-quality forest went “under the ax”, there were not prerequisites for the destruction. There were found "round timber" (standard trading form). There is information that part of the forest has already been sold on the territory of Moldova at a price of 280 rubles per cubic meter (at market value in the Republic of Moldova 1500 lei). The President instructed to stop cutting in the oak grove until his special order.
Earlier, after a similar situation with large-scale deforestation in the region of Ternovka and Giska villages at the end of 2017, the President ordered the requirement to coordinate any deforestation of greenery with local management and notify Executive Office of the PMR President about the event. So far, notification has not been received by the Executive Office. At the beginning of this year, the Government of the Pridnestrovian Republic, by its decree, approved the rules for conducting logging operations. The requirement, established by the President is spelled out in the document, but it is indicated that coordination with local councils and administrations is necessary only in case of limited distance from the locality. According to Vadim Krasnoselsky, this was a legal loophole for those who were looking for a way to circumvent the law in order to gain commercial advantage. The President instructed the government to revise the current version of the decree, making the procedure for agreeing deforestation with local authorities and notifying the Presidential Executive Office. “The regulatory framework should be clear and transparent. It is necessary to put an end to this issue once and for all in order to prevent new precedents. We must create, not destroy. The forest is the property of our state, our people. This year we planted 100 hectares of forest, but this is not enough, in addition, there is still the issue of survival ability,” said Vadim Krasnoselsky. He emphasized that the main dividends that forest brings are clean ecology and it’s impossible to hew down state wealth for the sake of someone’s profit.
Vadim Krasnoselsky recommended assessing the actions of officials related to the cutting down of an oak grove in the Grigoriopol district and the sale of timber. The Chairman of the PMR Government Alexander Martynov said that the collected materials will be transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Accounts Chamber.
Question about the activities of the State Unitary Enterprise "Pridnestrovie-forest" were raised during the meeting. The issue of transforming a unitary enterprise into a closed joint stock company was discussed at the government level. The state management campaign is entrusted with conducting an audit for the rationality of conducting the economic activity of "Pridnestrovie-forest". In this regard, the President noted that he would support any undertakings aimed at improving the operation of the enterprise, while respecting an important requirement: the state should remain its owner.
