A Chinese investor bought the largest private amber miner in Ukraine

On November 5, 2024, it became known that the "Solar Craft Center" company, which in 2023 became the leader among private amber miners in Ukraine, changed its owner. The new person who will own the enterprise is Chinese citizen Ren Yongpeng. His company Lumos LLC Plus" became the sole shareholder of this enterprise.

The specialized publication Nadra.info reported on the purchase. According to his data, the agreement was concluded on November 5, 2024, and a few days before that, on November 2, Fedir Gorban, who previously headed the Lumos Plus company, became the director of the Solar Craft Center.

Until now, the "Solar Craft Center" company belonged to several owners. 58% of the company's shares were in the hands of "Concord Consulting" LLC under the leadership of Ihor Mazepa (founder of Concorde Capital), 32% - in the hands of Yuriy Blahodyr, who was also the company's head from 2021 until 2024, and 10% is owned by Galina Simkha.Now the share of the Chinese investor has become dominant, which will probably lead to an update of the data on the ultimate beneficial owner of the company.

It is interesting that Ihor Mazepa and Yurii Blahodyr control another company related to amber mining — "Sonyachne Remeslo" LLC (formerly "Sankamyan" LLC). This company is also partially controlled by Chinese citizen Wang Zhikai. Such a combination of Ukrainian and Chinese capital in the amber market arouses considerable interest among industry experts.

The company "Center "Sonyachne remeslo" was founded in 2007 and has a charter capital of 1 million hryvnias. It is engaged in the extraction of amber at the "Volodymyrets Skhidny" deposit in the Rivne region. In 2023, the company extracted 11,623.04 kg of amber, which provided it second place among private companies after KP "Volynprirodresurs", which extracted 14,667.27 kg.

"Lumos Plus" LLC, founded in September 2024, has a charter capital of 1,000 hryvnias. Ren Yongpeng is the sole owner of this company. Currently, the company does not have special permits for the use of subsoil, but it is expected that in the near future it will receive a permit to conduct mining operations.

The change of ownership of the "Solar Crafts" Center and the strategic interest of the Chinese investor in the Ukrainian amber market raise questions about the further development of this industry in Ukraine, as well as about the possible consequences for the local economy and ecology.