Sonyachne Remeslo company (Sun-Craft Center LLC) has attracted a foreign investor and is expanding amber production in Rivne region

Ihor Mazepa and his partners’ company Sonyachne Remeslo expands its operations and starts working at the Tomashgorod deposit in Rivne region. The area of the deposit is 457.7 hectares, with projected reserves of 191 tons of amber.

Last fall, Ihor Mazepa and his partners took over another company, Sankamyan, which had been undergoing permitting procedures for 6 years and had obtained an amber mining license.

To expand its operations, Sonyachne Remeslo has attracted a Chinese investor, Wang Zhikai, who is one of the main operators of the Chinese amber market, while this country is the world’s main consumer of this mineral.

“I personally consider it a real victory that an entrepreneur from the other side of the world trusted us and is ready to share with us all the challenges and risks of this difficult period,” emphasized Ihor Mazepa.

The company is planning to start direct production this spring. Once fully operational, the project will create about 100 new jobs, with projected production volumes of about 20 tons per year.

According to the investment banker, local communities will benefit significantly from the implementation of this business case. Thus, after amber extraction, the land will be recultivated and planted with young forest. In addition, budget revenues will increase significantly:

“Subsoil use taxes alone will amount to about UAH 1000 per kg of amber, 30% of which will go to the local community.”

“I assume that we are very much a nuisance to the black miners, whose business model we are disrupting. But I am sure that all market participants are interested in fair business,” summarized Ihor Mazepa.