In the Rivne region, law enforcement officers uncovered a large-scale scheme for illegal amber processing worth 2 million hryvnias
In the Rivne region, law enforcement agencies exposed a group of individuals who established an illegal scheme for the processing and sale of amber. According to investigation data, the accomplices organized a full cycle of illegal business, starting from the purchase of raw materials and ending with their preparation for sale.
As reported in the Prosecutor General’s Office, the defendants bought stones from prospectors in Polissya, who are engaged in manual or semi-mechanized mineral extraction.
To hide their activities, the organizers rented a private house in the Rivne district. It was there that the stones were stored, carefully sorted by fractions, and mechanically processed. In early April, during authorized searches at the location of the underground workshop, law enforcement officers seized more than 80 kilograms of amber, machines for its processing, scales, as well as mobile phones and other evidence of illegal activity.
“The cost of the seized sunstones on the black market, according to preliminary estimates, is about 2 million hryvnias,” the National Police emphasized.
Currently, the issue of seizing the amber and the seized equipment is being resolved within the framework of criminal proceedings. A special gemological examination has been ordered to establish the exact characteristics and value of the found minerals. Investigative actions are ongoing to establish the full range of persons involved in the functioning of this network.
“We continue systematic work to stop the illegal circulation of subsoil, which causes significant damage to the state economy”, — summarized representatives of law enforcement agencies.
It is worth noting that the state has recently been strengthening control over this area. In particular, the State Geology and Subsoil Service of Ukraine in 2025, based on the results of online auctions, sold 76 lots for the right to use subsoil with a total value of over 1.8 billion hryvnias. This emphasizes the importance of transferring the extraction of precious stones to an exclusively legal field for filling the budget.
