So far, more than 400 tons of "solar stones" have been explored in the region. These reserves will be enough for several decades to not only mine but also create finished products for export. In an interview with Ihor Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Rivne Regional State Administration, spoke about the amber potential of the region. At the same time, he acknowledged that foresters and subsoil users have problems.
"When the pilot projects approve their reserves, the figure of 400 tons will increase further. But the prospect is not only in mining, which does not bring much added value. It is difficult to count how many entrepreneurs, even now, in such a difficult time, are processing and making products. And this is income. That is, Rivne region has a resource for creating an additional product, an image product, for several decades," explained Igor Tymoshenko.
"The cost of special permits is several times higher than the starting price at the auction. In total, 67 special permits for the use of amber sites have been sold through electronic auctions over the past three years, 61 of which are for sites with an area not exceeding 10 hectares. Their value amounted to UAH 150 million. Of this amount, UAH 65 million has already been transferred to the state budget for the sale of special permits. The companies paid over UAH 10 million in rent. Local budgets received UAH 3 million," said Mr. Tymoshenko.
Foresters do not know what to do
But it's not that simple. Amber is a mineral that lies in lands with forests. This means that in order for the holders of special permits to start any activities, from exploration to extraction of the stone, they need to cut down trees. This mechanism has not been spelled out to this day.
In addition, it often looks like a forest on paper, but in reality it is a wasteland left behind by illegal amber miners.
"Foresters do not have clear instructions on what to do in such cases. If a forest is cut down, it should be recorded what type of cutting it is. But this is not sanitary felling, because there should be a forest there. That's why subsoil users are now trying to work in areas where there are no trees, where there are shrubs, where there is no need to do anything with the forest," says Ihor Tymoshenko.
In addition, holders of special permits often complain about the bureaucratization of some procedures. In particular, they wait for months for approval, which sometimes turns into sabotage by government agencies.
In such cases, Igor Tymoshenko advises contact the regional state administration.
The world famous amber exchange
However, the deputy head of the IAA is confident that Rivne's legal amber miners have considerable potential. Eventually, a global exchange may open here. So. Rivne region will become the amber capital of the worldFor example, like Polish Gdansk.
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