Amber has been collected along the Baltic coasts of present-day Kaliningrad Oblast since ancient times, and though some sites are still worked today the yield is relatively modest.
However, they vary greatly in status, ranging from that of Republics within the RF (e.g. Tatarstan) over Greater Regions (kraya) and Regions (oblasti), Autonomous Districts (avtonomnye rajony) and so-called "Metropolitan Areas of Federal Significance" (the cities of Moscow and St Petersburg).
After World War II the region was annexed by the USSR in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement (July/August 1945) and its five million German residents were expelled.
Finally, the customs-free regime of the Yantar SEZ has been challenged by hostile federal law several times.
The prospects of the Yantar SEZ are uncertain: In the early years after its establishment, during the period 1995-1997, it seemed to evolve into an emerging Russian province (the much talked-about "Hong Kong on the Baltic Sea"), thanks to its proximity to the European Union.
This was mainly due to a combination of both administrative inefficiency and the federal and oblast governments' unwillingness to make the Yantar SEZ sufficiently attractive with tax incentives.
Its main trading partner has been Germany and the bulk of foreign investment in the Yantar SEZ comes from German enterprises.