The President Signed a Law on the Abandonment of Unactive Licenses for Geological Exploration
President Vladimir Putin signed amendments to the law “On Subsoil”, designed to stop the practice of “sleeping” licenses for geological exploration – now the payment for subsoil will be increased several times if geological exploration of a site is delayed. The document was published on the official legal information portal.
Currently, the license period for geological exploration of subsoil is five years, and for certain regions and the shelf – seven and ten years, respectively. It is possible to extend the validity of a license to complete geological exploration work (GRR), some companies take advantage of this – work is delayed, so-called “sleeping” licenses appear, the owners of which extend the terms by paying a small payment for the use of subsoil.
To suppress this practice, the adopted amendments to the Law “On Subsoil” establish that after the expiration of the planned license period, the rate for its renewal increases multiple times: the first year – 2 times, the second year – 10 times, the third and subsequent years – 100 times . At the same time, a protection mechanism is provided for bona fide subsoil users, if geological exploration is delayed for objective reasons, the costs of the work are deducted.
Also, the amount of the regular payment is reduced by the amount of expenses for carrying out geological exploration in a given subsoil area, regardless of cases of transfer of the right to use subsoil and re-issuance of a license.
Meanwhile, the norms of the new law do not apply to payments for the right to geological exploration of subsoil located in internal sea waters, in the territorial sea, on the continental shelf, in the exclusive economic zone of Russia, in the Black Sea, the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea and in territories outside Russia under its jurisdiction. Their effect also does not apply to subsoil users who are subject to sanctions or restrictive measures of foreign states.
The law will come into force on September 1, 2024.
