Chinese businessman acquires Ukraine's largest private amber miner

A Chinese national, Ren Yongpeng, is set to acquire Rivne-based company Soniachne Remeslo Center company, Ukraine's largest private amber miner last year, Nadra.Info reported.

According to the report, starting November 5, Ren Yongpeng's Ukrainian firm Lumos Plus LLC became the sole stakeholder of Soniachne Remeslo Center LLС. Just days prior, on November 2, Fedir Horban, director of Lumos Plus, took over leadership at Soniachne Remeslo Center.

An industry source indicated that the deal's finalization and updates on the ultimate beneficial owner are expected in the coming days.

Another amber mining company with a similar name, Soniachne Remeslo LLC (formerly Sankamyan LLC), has been under the control of Ihor Mazepa and Yuriy Blahodyr since last year. A third stakeholder in this company is Chinese citizen Wang Zhikai, whom Ihor Mazepa described as "one of the main operators in China's amber market."

Reports noted that Soniachne Remeslo LLC would mine amber at the Tomashhorod amber deposit in Rivne Oblast.

Soniachne Remeslo Center company, which operates at the Volodymyrets-Skhidnyi deposit in Rivne, is also partially owned by Ihor Mazepa and his partners.

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