The European Union is by far the largest destination for Ukrainian wood exports. According to the recent report, Complicit in Corruption published by the British NGO Earthsight, in 2017 at least 40% of this wood was logged or traded illegally, with the aid of corruption. Ukraine is now the largest supplier of such high-risk timber to the EU. A large part of this timber comes from magnificent and often ancient forests in the Carpathian mountains. A new threat now hangs over this mountain range. Local politicians and murky investors have announced their intention to establish an immense ski resort in the Svydovets massif with over 60 hotels, 120 restaurants, 33 ski-lifts, 230 km of ski runs and even an aerodrome. The future tourist complex would be able to receive up to 28.000 tourists at the same time. It would affect 14.000 hectares of the massif and destroy up to 1500 hectares of forests.
With its remarkable wild spruce and beech forests rich in fauna and flora and its three natural lakes Svydovets is one of the most beautiful mountain zones in the country. It is the source of the river Tisza, one of the region's most important rivers. Local activists, environmental experts and scientists who are members of the Free Svydovets Group (FSG) are  opposing the ski resort project.