Gazprom Wants to Speed up Work on the Mineral Audit System
Gazprom expects that the system of sovereign audit of mineral reserves in Russia will be created before the end of 2024, proposes to amend the Subsoil Law at the next spring session, Sergey Menshikov, member of the board, head of department 307 of Gazprom, said during the meeting State Duma Committee on Ecology and Natural Resources.
“Taking into account the deadlines set by the Strategy for the Development of the Mineral Resource Base in relation to the audit of reserves, we say and see that the work must be completed by the end of 2024. PJSC Gazprom proposes to initiate the necessary amendments to the Subsoil Law in as soon as possible, and more precisely at the spring session,” Menshikov said.
A representative of Gazprom said that in 2022 the company, together with the State Reserves Commission and relevant departments, prepared a roadmap for 2023-2024 to form a system of sovereign audit of reserves. The proposals were approved by Rosnedra. The first stage of the roadmap is the legislative consolidation of the independent audit system in the Subsoil Law and the adoption of a government decree, orders of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Rosnedra, as well as the formation of an institute of experts and requirements for their qualifications.
Menshikov added that now Gazprom, together with relevant departments, is working on the creation of a “so-called linking document” between the Russian and the UN framework classification. The requirements for experts and competent persons have also been agreed.
The second stage of the roadmap is the recognition of the Russian system by the international investment community of partner countries – China, the BRICS and SCO countries. In particular, Menshikov noted that a Russian-Chinese working group is now being formed on the mutual recognition of mineral reserves classification systems.
Earlier during the meeting, Dmitry Oleinik, adviser to the head of Rosnedra, also said that Russia already has similar intergovernmental agreements with Belarus, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. “Interaction with South Africa, Ethiopia and a number of other countries is being discussed,” Oleinik added.
