Prosecutor's Office News 28.12.2010 A resident of the Nikiforovsky District was sentenced to actual imprisonment for the large-scale illegal felling of trees The Nikiforovsky District Court handed down a guilty verdict against A.E. Galtsev and Yu.P. Nikolaev, convicted under Part 3 of Article 260 of the Russian Criminal Code — the illegal felling of trees not classified as forest plantations, committed on a significant scale by a group acting in prior conspiracy. In court, the prosecution proved that sometime between July 15 and 20, 2010, Galtsev and Nikolaev, acting in collusion, used a crosscut saw and an axe to cut down 2 birch trees a day for 5 days, growing in a shelterbelt between fields No. 1 and No. 2 of Agropodukt LLC in the Nikiforovsky District. These trees served to protect against wind erosion and helped retain snow cover. In total, the convicted men illegally felled 10 birch trees, which they brought to their home for personal use. Galtsev had prior convictions, including for illegal tree felling, and his actions were deemed a dangerous repeat offense; accordingly, agreeing with the prosecutor's position, the court sentenced him to 3 years' imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony. Nikolaev was sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment suspended, with a 3-year probation period. The court also ordered the convicted men to pay compensation for the material damage caused in the amount of 10,505 rubles. The Nikiforovsky District Prosecutor's Office from here For 5 days, using a crosscut saw and an axe, they cut down 2 birch trees a day. Caused 10,000 rubles in damage. Got 3 years in a maximum-security colony. About the forest:
I don't remember how many millions of hectares of forest burned that summer, but I remember exactly that no one went to prison for it. And no one was even fined. And only a couple of people were fired. **More broadly: **Billions of dollars were stolen from Transneft, by my estimate; billions of rubles, according to the Accounts Chamber (Russia's state audit office). No one is in prison. No one has even been charged. Update. NOVOSIBIRSK, Dec. 24 — RIA Novosti. On Friday, the state prosecutor asked the court to release former Novosibirsk Region Vice Governor Sergei Aksenenko from punishment, though he is accused of causing half a billion rubles in damage to the regional budget, due to the statute of limitations having expired, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports. ///////