In the Novohrad-Volynsky region, law enforcement officers caught up and forcibly stopped a Nissan minibus, which contained 27 bags of amber, the police communication department of Zhytomyr region reports.
“At about 20:00 on 255 kilometer of the Kyiv-Chop highway, near Povchyno village, Novohrad-Volynsky district, the patrolmen forcibly stopped a Nissan car. Moving through the territory of Rivne region, the driver violated several traffic rules and did not stop at the request of the police, so they decided to catch up with him and check. As it turned out, the driver avoided talking to the police because of the cargo in the minibus,” a message on the police website says.
So, when inspecting the car, it turned out that the driver was transporting 27 bags of stones that looked like raw amber. However, in order to avoid administrative and criminal liability, the driver, 51-year-old resident of Chernivtsi region, offered the police EUR 1,000 of inappropriate benefits.
The discovered stones were seized and transferred for safekeeping at the State Directorate of the National Police in Zhytomyr region, an expert study was appointed.
The pretrial investigation is carried out in accordance with Article 240-1 (illegal extraction, sale, acquisition, transfer, shipment, transportation, processing of amber) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The police also documented the circumstances of improper benefits offer to the patrolmen. On this fact, criminal proceedings have been initiated under Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
According to information on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, on December 27 the document was returned with the signature of the president.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada adopted as a whole bill No. 2240 on settling the issue of amber extraction, which provides for the introduction of uniform exploration permits with the right to produce amber for a period of five years on plots of up to 10 hectares through ProZorro electronic auctions.
This decision was supported by 279 MPs with the quorum being 226 votes.
According to the bill, access to amber deposits will be regulated by establishing the right of land easements and defining separate Article 971 of the Land Code for exploration and mining on disturbed lands.
In addition, the document introduces criminal liability for illegal mining and administrative liability for violation of mining requirements, as well as toughens liability for non-compliance with land reclamation requirements and the obligation to compensate for losses incurred.
Ukraine’s parliament on November 12 passed at first reading bill No. 2240 settling the issue of amber production, which envisages the introduction of unified licenses for exploration with the right to produce amber during the period of five years for the sites up to 10 ha sold at electronic auctions on the ProZorro platform.
A total of 342 MPs backed the document.
According to the bill, access to amber deposits will be regulated by establishing the right of land easements and the definition of separate Article 971 of the Land Code for the exploration and mining of amber deposits on disturbed lands.
In addition, the document introduces criminal liability for illegal mining and administrative liability for violation of mining requirements, as well as toughens liability for non-compliance with land reclamation requirements and the obligation to compensate for losses incurred.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Environment Protection, the bill also removes a number of duplicate and archaic approvals for amber deposits (in particular, mineral titles and permission to remove the fertile layer) and introduces the filing of all documents in electronic form through an electronic account.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed to punish for amber smuggling with imprisonment from three to seven years and introduce an article on illegal extraction of amber to the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
This is outlined in bill No. 2059 amending the Criminal Code of Ukraine on criminal liability for the illegal extraction of amber or its movement across the customs border of Ukraine registered by the head of state in parliament.
So, it is proposed to introduce Article 240-1 (illegal extraction of amber). This crime is punishable by a fine of 700 to 3,000 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens (1 minimum is UAH 17), or imprisonment for a term from one to three years.
“The sale, acquisition, storage, transfer, transportation, processing of illegally obtained amber shall be punishable by a fine of 3,000 to 10,000 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens, or by imprisonment for a term from three to six years,” the president said in the bill.
The same actions committed with prior conspiracy by a group of persons, either repeatedly or on a large scale, as well as illegal amber extraction committed on the territories or objects of the nature reserve fund, shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term from four to seven years.
