The procedure for exporting amber products from the territory of the Kaliningrad region

On December 5, 2021, the President of the Russian Federation signed a package of amendments to the Federal Law on the “Special Economic Zone”, which includes not only the Kaliningrad region, but also the internal sea waters adjacent to it. The amendments also include those related to the export of amber outside the region. If previously, when exporting products from “Sun Stone”, it was necessary to confirm their origin, now this will require only commercial and transport documents. Legal entities and individual entrepreneurs are required to confirm the presence of a state hallmark. If the jewelry was purchased by a private person for personal purposes, then one document will be sufficient - a handwritten statement or an inventory drawn up in any form. The amendments came into force on January 1, 2021.

The procedure for moving raw amber and products made from it for legal entities

The Kaliningrad regional customs office informs legal entities that the movement of amber products to the territory of the Russian Federation is carried out in accordance with the customs procedure. The concept of “amber products” may include: - Costume jewelry and items made using amber, with the exception of precious metals. — Costume jewelry classified in position 7117 of the EAEU Commodity Nomenclature for Foreign Economic Activity. — Products made of precious metals, precious stones and amber (submission of a declaration is required, and such issues are in charge of the Kaliningrad excise customs post).

WHAT IS BALTIC AMBER

The origin of amber: modern interpretation

Tree resin has gone through a long journey of transformation before becoming amber.

Baltic amber

The path includes 3 stages:

Resin acids have been oxidizing for hundreds of years under the influence of moisture and heat in the forest.
For hundreds of thousands of years, oleoresin accumulated in the soil along with wood enriched with tree resin. At this stage, the hardened resin began to acquire the characteristics of amber: the melting point and hardness increased, and the solubility decreased.
Over millions of years, the soils of the amber forest were eroded, the resin fell into the river valleys, and from there into the sea. At the bottom of the reservoir, the final transformation of the hardened resin into amber took place.

Various species of plants and insects are found in Baltic amber. Most often, the resin contains inclusions of pieces of tree bark and insects, most of which are parasitic riders of the family Hymenoptera eupelmidae.

Is it possible for private individuals to mine in Russia?

According to Russian legislation, unauthorized mining of semi-precious and precious stones is prohibited.

Palmnikenskoe

Sales and storage of illegally mined minerals, including natural amber, are punishable by an administrative fine.

Rules for export to foreign countries

Both raw amber, subjected to primary industrial processing, and products made from “sunstone” can be exported. In order to export such cargo, accompanying documents are required. If we are talking about a batch of raw amber, then a license drawn up in the form approved by the KEC Decision No. 45 of May 16 is required. 2012 When it comes to exporting amber jewelry, a license is not required, and the presence/absence of other materials in their composition does not matter.

PURCHASE AND CARE

When buying amber, you must remember that this mineral is easy to fake: sometimes imitations are very beautiful.

Artificial gems are made from natural and synthetic resin, plastic and glass.

Buying amber

How to distinguish natural from pressed

One way to fake a solar mineral is by pressing amber chips. Such a stone (ambroid) will still be natural and much better than a plastic fake, but when a pressed gem is passed off as a solid natural mineral, the price is greatly inflated.

Rules for export to the rest of the Russian Federation and to the countries of the EAEU

To export by air products consisting entirely of “sunstone” or made using auxiliary materials (wood, plastic, metal, but not precious), you must have shipping and commercial documents. Their function can be taken over by an inventory drawn up in any form. It is noteworthy that the term “inventory” is applicable only in cases where transportation is carried out in the luggage of an ordinary passenger. That is, a citizen purchased jewelry for personal use and wants to transport it in a suitcase to his homeland. In the inventory, the citizen is obliged to provide information regulated by paragraph 3 of Art. 16.1 Federal Law-16.

If a legal entity intends to transport amber jewelry or household items by another type of transport, then this can be done in accordance with the customs transit procedure, which implies the provision of information and documents, the list of which is specified in Art. 182, 183 of the Customs Code of the Russian Federation. If the shipment is sent by mail, then all postal documents related to the parcel are required to be submitted to the Kaliningrad Regional Customs. These documents must display information about the sender and recipient, name, cost of the cargo and its gross weight.

MINING PLACES

The largest deposit of the solar mineral “Palmnikenskoye” is located in Russia on the coast of the Baltic Sea in the village “Yantarny” near Kaliningrad. Every year, up to 500 tons are mined in this place according to the following algorithm:

To extract stone, a special technique is used, with the help of which a layer of earth is first washed away with a powerful jet.
In the next step, dredgers move the waste mixture into the sea until a layer of rock containing amber is exposed.
After this, the amber-bearing mixture is fed with an excavator bucket onto a conveyor, from where it is sent to the factory.
After rough and thorough washing, the found amber is dried in a calorific oven, then the minerals are sorted.

Coast of Svetlogorsk

Where to find amber in Russia

Deposits of the solar mineral are located on the coast of the Baltic Sea; this body of water washes the territory of Russia in the Kaliningrad region. Many are trying to obtain this stone illegally. In addition, almost every tourist wants to take with them a “piece of sun” found on the shore.

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For those who want to feel like a prospector, special excursions are organized at the Palmnikenskoye plant, where you can “get” a souvenir in improvised deposits.

There is a high probability of finding “pieces of sun” on the coasts of Svetlogorsk, Zelenogradsk, Pionersky, and the village of Primorye.

While vacationing on the Baltic coast, you can inexpensively purchase legally mined minerals or products made from them in any store. This is how they bring blue or white amber with them to Moscow or another city, which reminds them of the sea.

Blue amber

How to find amber on the seashore

Collecting amber, including on the Baltic Sea coast, is prohibited by law, so it is better not to do this, but to calmly contemplate the seascapes, as well as the sights of the Baltic.
For sport, you can try to find minerals, but do not take them with you, but leave them in place so as not to break the Law.
It is best to look for amber on the seashore after a storm: small minerals are washed ashore along with debris, the remains of vertebrates, and black algae.
Among this unsightly accumulation you can see pieces of frozen resin shining in the sun. To do this, you may have to arm yourself with some kind of stick or rake out the garbage with your hands.
Local prospectors take nets with them, go into the water and shine a flashlight on the accumulation of black algae: if there is amber among them, when an ultraviolet ray is directed at it, the mineral will glow green.
When using a flashlight, gems are better visible after sunset.
After a storm, the police sometimes appear on the shore and check with people walking along the beach to see if they have a large amount of amber.

Amber on the seashore

Water tube mining

Experienced prospectors extract amber in so-called water tubes, which are located on the shore or in the Baltic Sea itself.
Water tubes are small hollows flooded with water.
If there are gems in such mines, then the water usually contains blue clay.
Minerals in such pipes lie at a depth of about 5 meters.

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Amber in the forest and near the river

Amber jewelry is sometimes found in the forests of the Kaliningrad region.
Prospectors track passages dug by moles.
If there is blue clay in the soil they bring to the surface, it probably contains solar minerals. To search for stones in such a place, excavations are carried out.
To find gems along rivers, you need to study the surface of the earth after heavy rains. It is best to search in early spring, when there is no vegetation.
When going in search of amber, it is worth remembering: collecting and storing such stones is punishable.

Raw amber necklace

Rules for the export of jewelry containing amber

If jewelry containing amber to be exported from the territory of the Kaliningrad region contains gold, silver or platinum, then along with commercial and transport documents or an inventory (for individuals), it is necessary to provide a certificate of the results of the inspection of jewelry, regardless of the size of the lot. You can obtain such a document from the Western State Assay Supervision Inspectorate for the Kaliningrad Region. The presence of this certificate is mandatory regardless of how the cargo will be transported - by air, land or sea, and even if the parcel is sent by mail (the certificate is attached to the list of postal documents).

How much does 1 gram of amber cost?

The cost of natural unprocessed amber ranges from per gram. The price may be higher if the stone is of a rare color, size, or contains a prehistoric insect or plant.

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For what purpose were amendments made to the Federal Law?

The initiator of the development of amendments was the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. Thanks to their adoption by the State Duma in the first reading, a ban was established not only on the simplified export of amber products, but also on the import. First of all, the changes were necessary to lobby the interests of the largest enterprise in the region - the Amber Plant. It is believed that such a measure will reduce the burden on business, because the regional amber industry is having a hard time, given that it has to compete not only with Chinese and Polish manufacturers, but also with Ukrainian and Belarusian ones.

What to do if you find a piece of amber weighing 5-6 kilograms?

First, you need to understand that even if you find such a “piece of sunshine”, it is still not yours. It doesn't matter that he was just lying on the beach. It didn't matter that there was no one around. This is state property. If you are suddenly so lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it), then you can go in four different ways:

Throw it away immediately and leave it where it was.

It is clear that this is inexpressibly painful. It’s a pity, it’s almost impossible to part with such wealth. But... remember the fairy tale about the Little Humpbacked Horse. Ivan found the Firebird's feather and decided to take it for himself despite the admonitions of the Little Humpbacked Horse. Here you are - better listen to me, like the Horse. Throw it away. It’s better not to even take a selfie with the find. You never know who will see this photo posted on social networks! Do you need all these problems?

Sell to the “huckster” from the market

You can stuff your find into a bag and take it to the market where they sell souvenirs. There you can select a trustworthy seller and invite him to contact the owner about purchasing a large piece of amber. It’s probably clear that they won’t give you a lot of money for it, citing poor quality. At best, they will offer to exchange your find for some ready-made ring or pendant.

Take it to the police

This is worth doing if you don't want to mess with the next option. Your action will certainly be appreciated, your find will be formalized as it should be. I don't think you'll ever see her again. You can try to appeal to the law on treasures. After all, if you find a treasure, and this is what happened, you are entitled to a quarter of its value. Purely theoretically, this line can be followed to the end, but then you will have to be patient while experts examine your find and determine its value. Just don’t think that they’ll give you a million or two as compensation. Amber is not such an expensive material. Here is the price of a piece the size of a fist (the photo was taken in the Yantarny Castle in the village of Yantarny):

So for all your running around, nerves and expectations, you will receive 1-2 thousand rubles. Do you need it? I told you, it's better to throw it away right away

Take to the Yantarny plant in the village of Yantarny

This is where the right staff of specialists and laboratory are located to determine the true value of your nugget. Of course, it will take some resources and time to get to the village of Yantarny, but your find will go straight to its destination, and you will save yourself from risks. After all, even if by some miracle you are able to take the nugget with you, you will not be able to “openly own” it. At any moment you can get into such trouble that you will have to regret that you did not take advantage of recommendations 3, 4, or at least 1 at one time.

I hope you didn't take option 2 seriously. I brought it up as one of the possible, but undesirable ones. Everyone must decide for themselves how to manage their luck. For me, it’s better to act within the law, because a quiet life is also worth something

Back

Image is everything

Not only Poland uses amber as a national symbol. Who doesn’t remember Latvian cosmetics? This word means “amber” in Latvian. The same word is used to name processed cheese and the women’s folk choir, as well as the children’s dance ensemble “Dzitarins”. And Latvians call the Baltic Sea itself Dzintara jūra - the Amber Sea. The most common male name is Dzintars and the female name is Dzintra. Meanwhile, amber is not mined on an industrial scale in Latvia. Numerous souvenirs from this stone are made there, mainly from Russian raw materials.

The Latvian neighbors call the yellow stone “Lithuanian gold”. Beer, cookies, TV shows, TV series, restaurants, you never know what else includes the word “Gintaras”. Juodkrante, a 19th-century amber mining center, has now become a fashionable resort. Mining has not been carried out here since 1890. But the glory remained. “Lithuanian amber is fundamentally different from minerals mined in other regions, for example in Latvia. This is color, and shape, and the play of light,” says the tourist brochures. This may be true, only at present there is no industrial amber mining in Lithuania either. Behind all these brands is only the love for amber and its popularity among the people.

Questions and answers

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