Number of legal companies producing amber reaches nine

The State Service of Geology and Deposits of Ukraine has issued 10 new permits for exploration of fields and production of amber to four enterprises, including to municipal enterprise Volynpryrodoresurs.

"In general, today there are nine enterprises which legally received permits for use of deposits with amber, and four new companies recently entered the market, in particular, Volynpryrodoresurs," the authority said last week.

Acting head Mykola Boyarkin said that this will improve the ecological situation on the promising amber fields of around 380,000 ha and increase revenue of the national budget.

According to the authority, this concerns three Ukrainian regions: Rivne, Zhytomyr and Volyn regions.

"Official figures are small compared to the figures of the shadow market. According to experts, due to unlawful amber production Ukraine falls short of UAH 1.5-3 billion," the authority said.