In Lviv Region, authorities have uncovered a scheme to issue tractor operator licences under the guise of official training.
According to a statement from the Prosecutor General’s Office, the scheme was organised by two heads of the Main Directorate of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Lviv Region and a co-founder of a private company. Five more employees of the Service, as well as the company’s director and a methodologist, were also involved.
In total, ten people have been served with notices of suspicion.
In January 2026, to arrange this “training”, they set up a controlled company which obtained a Ministry of Education and Science licence to train and upskill tractor operators. Formally, people paid UAH 15,000 for the course. In reality, the money guaranteed they could skip classes, pass the formal exams without difficulty and receive a licence.
Those who wanted to study properly and attend classes were expelled.
The director and methodologist ensured the “training centre” operated: they submitted documents to the Ministry of Education and Science, entered trainees’ details into the Unified State Electronic Database on Education, and posted fictitious information about instructors on the website.
Employees of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection helped process paperwork, form training groups and prepare forged special machinery lease agreements to create the appearance of a fully fledged material and technical base.
The final stage was issuing the licences. The same employees of the Service sat on examination commissions and, according to investigators, entered records showing exams had been passed without any real assessment of knowledge and skills.
Staff at the institution themselves sought out people willing to obtain a licence without training among local residents.
According to operational data, from June to September 2026, more than UAH 1 million was paid into the controlled company’s account by at least 80 people.
All ten participants were served with notices of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Other individuals who may have been involved in its operation are currently being identified. Preventive measures have been imposed on all suspects — detention with the right to post bail. In particular, bail for one of the heads of the Main Directorate of the Service is almost UAH 1 million.
Six employees of the Directorate have already been suspended from their posts; a motion regarding the seventh is currently under consideration by the court.