UThe region is the world leader in reserves of the sunstone – amber. However, the state budget does not receive a penny from its sale. Journalist Denis Kazansky wrote on his Facebook page:
“Almost all amber mining in Ukraine occurs illegally, and the stone is also exported abroad by smuggling, without paying duties and taxes. According to some sources, the country produces up to 300 tons of sunstone per year. All income (and this is hundreds of millions of euros) goes to the accounts of criminal structures and law enforcement agencies. At the same time, the State Enterprise for the extraction of amber, SE “Burshtin of Ukraine,” is in the process of bankruptcy.”
Illegal amber mining in the Rivne region is literally put on a “conveyor belt”: here it is dug both manually and with the help of water pumps. The latter cause irreparable damage to forest resources.
A little history. The northern part of the Volyn, Rivne and Zhytomyr regions is rich in amber. As local residents say, 50 years ago they literally “heated the stove” using amber as firewood. We became interested in amber about 20 years ago, when Chinese citizens, who consider this semi-precious stone sacred, began to buy it.
According to local residents of the Vladimiretsky district of the Rivne region, high-ranking law enforcement officials are protecting the illegal mining of amber. For the operation of one pump per week, its owner must pay from 200 to 900 US dollars. Previously, the amber mining business was under the wing of the son of ex-president Yanukovych. After he fled the country, ex-regionals tried to take over his business. Everyone knows the story of Prodivus in May 2014, when he, in the company of armed men, arrived at the scene and tried to “restore order” in the Rivne region.
The story of the disappearance of a large batch of seized amber and cash from the Rivne police station has not completely died down. It is known that even the culprits of this incident have not yet been found.
Confirmation of the facts of corrupt activities of law enforcement agencies and the inaction of the authorities has been repeatedly described in the media.
Also, the facts of “protection protection” of the “amber business” were voiced by Mr. Sobolev on the air of the “Shuster Live” program on TV channel 112. But it is sad to realize that the fact that the current government for a long time cannot put an end to the illegal mining of amber, speaks of its “share” in a profitable business…
SKELET-info