Dr Olena Belichenko is the Amber Personality of the Year 2021

The Amber Personality of the Year 2021 by the decision of the Award Committee consisting of Amber Personalities from all previous years become Dr Olena Belichenko. She is distinguished for outstanding achievements in many years of amber research influencing works  ordering the amber raw material market.

Olena Belichenko is a doctor of geological sciences. Since 2005, she has been the head of the precious stones expertise department of the State Gemological Center of Ukraine at the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.

She is a long-time amber appraiser of the International Amber Association. Since 2010, she has been a member of the amber expert commission at the Amberif and Ambermart fairs. The result of recognition for her work for the promotion of Baltic amber was in 2013 the medal awarded by the President of the City of Gdańsk. Education and many years of experience make her a valued expert, of the Ukrainian customs service. She is the author of over 40 scientific papers devoted to various issues related to amber research.

 She has developed and conducted the course "Certification and expertise of precious stones of organic origin. Amber ". She was a member of the organizing committees of international scientific and practical conferences and several roundtable meetings on the extraction and use of amber in Ukraine. Dr Belichenko led the work on the development of a document standardizing amber raw material in Ukraine - the State Standard 11 Amber Raw Materials. General technical conditions. ". These regulations entered into force in Ukraine in July 2020. She is also the author of recipes and methodological guidelines for the expert evaluation of amber.

Testing the quality of amber raw material and the possibility of a reliable assessment of it is one thing of the most important aspects, also economic, of the international amber industry. The scientific achievements of Dr Olena Belichenko are an outstanding contribution significant to the entire amber community.

Małgorzata Kucharska