Ukrainian Prosecutor General: Amber business should be legalized

The annual turnovers of the "amber mafia" in Ukraine equal to the needs of the country’s military budget. The organized criminal group which has been recently arrested in Rivne region is only a third of the structures engaged in the illegal extraction of amber.

"According to preliminary estimates, the revenues of amber dealers for a year equal the needs of the country's military budget. The amber deposits are found almost all over the Ukrainian Polisia [north of Ukraine]. Therefore, it is a serious prospect for the state," Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said in an interview with TSN Ukrainian news service.

According to him, the criminal group, which was arrested in Rivne region and Kyiv on July 4, is only a part of the "amber mafia."

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General also noted that the amber production should become controlled by the state.

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