"Kiev does not control the situation": whether Zelensky can stop the illegal extraction of amber in the north of Ukraine

The northern regions of Ukraine are on the verge of an environmental disaster. This was announced on August 12 by the head of the National Police of Ukraine Sergey Knyazev during a meeting with the participation of Vladimir Zelensky.

According to Knyazev, 6.2 thousand ha of forest and more than 1 thousand ha of farmland in the Volyn, Zhytomyr and Rivne regions suffered from the actions of illegal amber miners.

"In such circumstances, the lack of environmental protection and restoration work may lead to the need to recognize the northern part of our state as a zone of extreme environmental disaster," the official quoted the Ukrainian media.

According to the Liga.net portal, according to the head of the Ukrainian police, illegal amber extraction could not be carried out massively without a close connection between criminals, local authorities and representatives of law enforcement agencies.

"Bureaucratic Theater"

The issue of illegal amber production in Ukraine was raised by President Vladimir Zelensky during a visit to the Zhytomyr region earlier on August 12. He stated that he had observed the scale of the disaster from a helicopter and admitted that a real “war” was going on in the north-west of Ukraine.

“We understand that people hunt for amber, this is a real war of criminal authorities who were hiding behind the police, the SBU, the prosecutor’s office, and the state,” the President of Ukraine emphasized.

As noted on the official website of Zelensky, "experts estimate the volume of the black amber market at $ 500 million a year, and the total scale of state losses is tens of billions of hryvnias."

• President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky in Zhytomyr

Zelensky also noted that the state knows the names of all the "authorities" involved in the illegal business. However, only ordinary miners are punished, who get off with insignificant fines, the official website of the president notes. The parts of the National Guard, which must confront the mafia and the SBU, according to the president, "are also in this scheme," writes Liga.net.

The deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ruslan Ryaboshapka, in turn, compared the situation in the three northwestern regions of the country with the "bureaucratic theater" and suggested that law enforcement authorities do not explain their inaction by the lack of authority or the imperfection of the law.

“Maybe you just need to change people who can exercise the powers that they have? According to the current Criminal Code, anyone can be imprisoned, ”the Ukrainian official expressed confidence.

Another deputy, Aleksey Goncharuk, emphasized that in problematic regions - Volyn, Rivne and Zhytomyr regions - local law enforcement officials work closely with crime.

“Mass fishing”

According to the portal Gordonua.com, referring to a statement by Sergei Knyazev, the problem of illegal amber production in western Ukraine became widespread in 2014, but became especially acute in late 2015 and early 2016. In the country there were clashes between local residents and law enforcement officers and attacks on police officers trying to counteract the illegal extraction of stone.

There were frequent cases and shootings between different groups of bandits who did not share the reserves of valuable tar. In May, journalists from the Volyn television channel Avers, who shot a report on smuggling amber, were beaten by local customs officers: as a rule, illegally mined amber is then transported abroad.

In 2015, President Petro Poroshenko demanded that security officials eliminate the “protection” of illegal amber extraction in two weeks. But this requirement has not been met. In 2016, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office, SBU and the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained Andrei Borovik, a deputy prosecutor of the Rivne region, for involvement in the illegal business. However, after a year of being in jail, he went free. In 2017, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) accused deputies of Boris Rosenblat from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and Maxim Polyakov from the Popular Front party of illegally extracting amber. However, the investigation into this case has not yet been completed.

It should be noted that back in 2015, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Ukraine proposed recognizing the areas of illegal amber extraction as an “ecological disaster zone”. In particular, environmentalists are concerned about the method used by prospectors: the land is "sifted" using water pumps, after which huge tracts of territories remain unsuitable for economic activity. Forest on them is also not being restored.

“The scale of the disaster is huge. Illegal miners destroy soil and forests exclusively for amber. This is a massive business that brings a lot of money. In each such area, illegal miners have not only the most modern technology, but also armed guards. Three years ago, the country's leadership was told that in order to stop work it was necessary to introduce a regular army into the villages. But no one wanted to raise this issue and enter into confrontation with the local population, since we are only at the east of the country. Extra shocks were not needed, ”a source in the National Police of Ukraine said in an interview with RT.

Since 2014, the country's population has been rapidly becoming poorer, and therefore it is eager to engage in illegal fishing, the source of the Radical Party says.

“Utilities have risen in price, food prices have risen. And what do people live on? Some went abroad to earn money, while others cut down forests and produce amber. Maybe Zelensky would first attract large companies to the regions and offer people jobs? Or does he think that half of the country's inhabitants should leave? ”Says the source.

In turn, the president of the Center for System Analysis and Forecasting Rostislav Ishchenko, in an interview with RT, noted that after the 2014 coup in Ukraine, the law enforcement system was discredited and, in fact, dismantled.

“In the hands of the population was a large number of weapons. Moreover, people were sure that they have the right to use it against police officers. As a result, the state has lost control of the regions, says Ishchenko. - The territories where amber is illegally mined is commonly called the "amber republic." There Kiev has little control over the situation. People themselves produce amber and smuggle abroad. The worst thing is that these territories are comparable in area with the DPR and LPR, and they, in fact, are not controlled by the authorities, and this does not really bother them. ”

• RIA News

According to Oleg Matveychev, professor at the Higher School of Economics, the rampant amber mafia in Ukraine is a sign of the state’s weakness.

“In Russia, a similar situation could be observed in the 1990s,” Matveychev said in an interview with RT. - The attempts of the state to establish control end in nothing, because everyone who is appointed to the corresponding posts automatically turns out to be “in share”. Given the scale of corruption in Ukraine and the permissiveness of the groups that “roof” this business, not a single conditional silovik will raise his hand against this. ”

“Left no room for maneuver”

According to Vladimir Zelensky on August 12, those involved in the illegal extraction of amber “will not go far from the country.” The President of Ukraine demanded at the meeting in Zhitomir to dismiss the heads of the regional police departments and regional departments of the SBU in the Zhytomyr, Volyn and Rivne regions.

At the same time Zelensky introduced the new head of the Zhytomyr Regional State Administration. This position was taken by Vitaliy Bunechko, who previously worked in Mariupol. Ukrainian media have repeatedly written about his possible connections with oligarch Igor Kolomoisky.

However, as the RT source in the People’s Front Party notes, all of these measures may prove futile.

“They earn a lot of money from amber extraction, and of course, they will offer part of the proceeds to the police. What will Zelensky do with these people in six months? Publicly admits defeat or deploy troops? He left no room for maneuver, ”a representative of the Popular Front said in an interview with RT.

In turn, the interlocutor RT from the party "Fatherland" also suggested that "a change in the leadership of the police will not allow to resolve this issue."

According to Oleg Matveychev, in order to end the amber mafia, Zelensky will “need a large-scale military operation”.

“It is absolutely impossible to give this to the local authorities, they will not be able to cope. We need a large-scale power, in fact military operation, general sweeping. However, local residents, for whom amber is the only way to survive, can protest in response, ”said Matveychev.

• Soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine
• RIA News

In turn, Rostislav Ishchenko believes that Zelensky is unlikely to really fight the illegal extraction of amber.

“The same thing was said by Poroshenko and Avakov. Not only that claimed, but also sent the National Guard. Nevertheless, they preferred not to get in touch with local smugglers, because then they would have had to carry out a counter-guerrilla operation there, and the forces of the Ukrainian army might not be enough, ”the expert noted.