From now on, Ukrainian amber can be legally transported to Gdańsk, and not just through smuggling. The revolutionary legal changes are not the end of the matter. The Równe authorities are seriously pursuing their declarations to make Równe the capital of Ukrainian amber – more and more amber-related cultural and marketing projects are being implemented in Ukraine, most of which are modelled on what has been done in Gdańsk so far.
Legal revolution
The law „On Amber” by MP Mykola Sherszun was voted for by 228 deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. However, this is not a staggering number, considering that the Verkhovna Rada has 450 deputies. The reason for its passing was, among other things, that politicians from the ruling Party of Regions and the opposition – including deputy Viktor Matchuk from Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, a former governor – worked side-by-side on its creation and lobbying.
According to Matczuk, who was one of the biggest proponents of changing the regulations, there are several important nuances in the new law. One of them is the simplification of the system for issuing licences for the prospecting and extraction of amber. Licences will be issued not in Kyiv, as has been the case so far, but at the local government level. Obtaining such permits was so complicated up to now that only large enterprises could manage it – now those who have been engaged in this craft illegally until now will be able to successfully apply for a permit. Furthermore, the law removes amber from the list of precious stones. In practice, this means that Ukrainians who have extracted amber in Polissya will be able to legally sell it to Ukrainian jewellers or intermediaries. Up to now, the only option for „starateli” (amber prospectors) was to sell amber to smugglers – the Bursztyn Ukrainy enterprise, even if it wanted to, did not have the right to buy the raw material from the population and had to import it... from Poland or Lithuania.
We'll feel the Ukrainian changes in Gdańsk
All of this will not leave the situation of the Polish amber industry unaffected. Above all, thanks to the new law, a legal market for the extraction, purchase and trade of raw amber will be created in Ukraine, which will be operated not only by large companies but also by sole proprietorships. Thanks to legalisation, extraction in Ukraine will certainly increase slightly, although amber will no longer flow to Poland in such massive quantities. The law was created, among other things, to retain the raw material in Ukraine and develop the jewellery industry in Polesia. On the other hand, the raw material can now be legally sold to Poland. As we can see, for Polish amber jewellers, the adoption of the Ukrainian amber law means both advantages (legalisation of raw material imports) and disadvantages (the emergence of strong competition from finished jewellery products). One thing is certain: we must prepare for significant changes.
In light of this, will the prices of raw material purchased in Ukraine increase? An increase in amber extraction in Ukraine, and therefore a greater supply of raw material, should be expected. However, until now, almost all of this Ukrainian amber has gone abroad, including to Gdańsk, and now most of it will remain in Ukraine. On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that purchasing raw material through smugglers and the necessity of circumventing the law was not a comfortable situation for the Polish industry and involved additional costs. The possibility of purchasing raw material legally, not from intermediaries, but directly in Polesie from mining companies, may ultimately prove beneficial for the amber industry in the Tricity – especially since the authorities in Rivne and the Rivne Oblast are focused not so much on competition, but on friendly cooperation with Gdańsk.
Amber Capital
In Ukraine, no one disputes Gdańsk's primacy as the „world capital of amber”. Moreover, Gdańsk's models have recently inspired the development of a similar concept, „Rivne – the Amber Capital of Ukraine”. It should be noted here that amber is not as widely known or popular in Ukraine as it is in Poland. Unlike in our country, where almost every child has collected amber on the beach at some point and strongly associates this gemstone with Pomerania, few people in Ukraine beyond Polesia are interested in this topic. If you search for „amber” in Ukrainian on the internet, the top results will relate to the city of Burshtyn in Ukrainian Transcarpathia, which houses a huge power plant and a strategically important electrical hub (from where electricity is exported, including to Poland). The second association is the Amber Room and the Baltic coast of Russia. However, if we use the parallel word „jantar”, the average Ukrainian will think of... Jantar beer.
Consequently, at the current stage, amber craftsmen in Rivne are aiming not so much to promote Ukrainian amber globally (although steps in this direction are also being taken) as within Ukraine itself. Besides, for Rivne, a city devoid of historical monuments, amber is essentially the only way to make its mark on the tourist map of Ukraine and Europe, a fact that tourism promotion specialists for the city and region are aware of.
In addition to opening the amber museum in Rivne, the local government is also promoting the amber brand by, among other things, giving the adjective „amber” to various cultural events and competitions. One of these is the beauty contest „Pearl of the Rivne”(The Pearl of Rivne), which this year will change its main symbol. The main attribute of the competition will no longer be a sea gem, but a Polissian amber. And from next year, the beauty contest organised in Rivne will become all-Ukrainian and will be closely linked to the presentation of amber jewellery. The silver crown, which traditionally decorates the winner of the competition, will be made of amber from next year. The initiator of the change in the symbol and scale of the competition is the deputy governor of the Rivne Oblast, Oleksiy Hubanov, who does not hide that he observed this type of method for popularising the amber brand in Gdańsk.
It is not only the regional authorities but also the city authorities that are active in this matter. On the initiative of Deputy Mayor Równe Hałyna Kulczyńska, the city will organise a children's competition of Ukrainian music, „Amber Notes”, in December. As announced by the city and regional authorities, this is only the beginning – the real promotion of the amber brand will start in a few months, as part of the preparations for Euro 2012, which also has a chance to become the „amber” championships.
Although the Amber Act was passed by the Ukrainian Parliament, it was vetoed by President Yushchenko, meaning its provisions did not come into effect.
Photo: Amber of Ukraine: amber bracelet. Photo: www.amber-gem.com
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