Subsoil Code (Law No. HO-280-N).

This Code establishes the principles, procedures and scope governing subsoil use and the management of waste resulting from subsoil use. It regulates environmental protection, technical safety, and the rights of the State and private persons. Matters concerning the use of oil, natural gas, radioactive raw materials, underground freshwater, and urban development objects are governed by separate legislative acts. Subsoil is the property of the State and may not be sold, mortgaged or alienated. Geological information is State property and is transferred to the authorized body upon the expiration or termination of subsoil use rights.
State administration in the field is carried out by the Government and authorized bodies. The Government determines policy in the mining sector, approves contract and authorization forms, maintains state registers, and establishes requirements for waste facilities, financial guarantees and reclamation. Authorized bodies grant subsoil use rights, maintain the State balance of mineral reserves and registers, and manage the environmental protection fund. The Code establishes requirements on transparency, including the disclosure of information concerning authorizations, geographical coordinates, extraction and export volumes, and payments, and provides for the declaration of beneficial ownership by legal entities engaged in the extraction of metallic minerals.
Subsoil use rights are exercised on the basis of agreements, permits and technical programmes within defined geographical coordinates. The allocation of subsoil plots is subject to prior valuation of mineral reserves, environmental impact and technical safety. Subsoil use operations require land-use arrangements or the consent of landowners and local self-government bodies. For subsoil plots located in border zones, operations require written clearances from competent State bodies and the use of positioning systems for extraction and transport activities.