OREANDA-NEWS. August 06, 2015.  Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk appealed to the Parliament to adopt in September a law on licensing of amber production, the monopoly of state and control over extraction of it, as well as on appropriate environmental protection measures. The Prime Minister stated at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

The Head of Government stressed that 3 tonnes of illegally mined amber seized by the Interior Ministry of Ukraine is merely the tip of an iceberg: "It is the pinnacle of a corruption-based iceberg, which is situated on the territories of several regions, where an illegal amber extraction is carried out".

He reminded the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine had had three bills to consider, aimed at legalization of amber production: "Unfortunately, the Parliament has not supported any of these bills."

Arseniy Yatsenyuk addressed the Parliament with a request in September to approve laws introducing the licensing of amber mining: "The revenues of the state budget for 2016, planned by the Ministry of Finance at this stage, envisage plus 1 billion hryvnias from the sale of such licenses."

Apart from that, the Prime Minister accentuated it is crucial to endorse laws pertaining to the state monopoly and control over amber extraction, as well as planning environmental measures – “after all, what is happening in these areas is just environmental destruction."

Arseniy Yatsenyuk informed that responsive activities to combat illegal mining of amber will prolong: "What is happening there now should rigidly be halted, on the one hand by the law enforcement activities, that are now underway, and on the other hand using economic tools and methods by adoption a law on the legalization of amber extraction and the protection of environment".