Supreme Court rules sale of amber special permit for UAH 300,000 invalid

Judicial precedent regarding collusion in subsoil auctions

The Supreme Court of Ukraine has finally resolved the disputed case, confirming the invalidity of the purchase and sale agreement and the special permit for the use of subsoil. This legal position concerns the illegal sale of the right to extract amber in Rivne region, where manipulations by participants caused the state budget to suffer losses exceeding 3.5 million hryvnias.

Auction process and detection of violations

The incident concerns the "Netreba" subsoil plot, covering an area of over 106 hectares, located in Varash district. This territory is known for significant amber deposits. In January 2021, the right to extract amber was put up for an electronic auction.

According to facts established by the court, only two enterprises participated in the bidding, and they were related to each other. There was no actual competition between them. One company made an offer of over 4 million hryvnias. However, after the bidding ended, the winner refused to sign the protocol.

In the end, the right to extract amber passed to another participant, who offered only 300,000 hryvnias. The difference between the prices amounted to more than 3.5 million hryvnias, which the state did not receive. The territorial body of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine also recorded anti-competitive concerted actions between the auction participants.

Role of the prosecutor's office and court decisions

The specialised ecological prosecutor's office of the Office of the Prosecutor General applied to the court with a request to declare the agreement and the obtained special permit invalid. The case went through all instances and reached the Supreme Court. The respondent's cassation appeal was left unsatisfied, so the previous court decisions on the invalidity of the agreement and the special permit remained in force.

Thus, the right to extract amber, obtained as a result of a distorted competitive process, was annulled.

Context of the amber problem

The problem of illegal amber circulation remains relevant for the region. Recently, law enforcement officers in Rivne region discovered an illegal workshop for processing amber and seized 80 kilograms of stone. Cases of illegal amber extraction under the guise of geological exploration works were also recorded in Zhytomyr region. In October 2026, it became known about a scheme for the illegal export of Ukrainian amber worth approximately 10.8 million hryvnias.

It is worth noting that the Supreme Court's decision in the "Netreba" plot case establishes the invalidity of a specific agreement and permit. It does not imply the automatic establishment of criminal liability for officials or representatives of interested enterprises.