Decree No. 403 of the Cabinet of Ministers “On measures for the further improvement of the procedure for issuance of subsoil management licenses.”

This Decree validates the Regulation on the procedure for issuance of licenses for subsoil management, envisaging: (a) the procedure for issuing licenses for the right to use subsoil plots to business entities on the basis of electronic online auction trading; (b) terms and conditions for the use of subsoil plots containing strategic types of minerals; (c) the procedure for registration and issuance of licenses for the right to use subsoil plots, as well as the implementation of state registration of this right; and (d) grounds and procedure for limiting, suspending and terminating the right to use subsoil plots. This Regulation shall be applicable to allotment of subsoil plots for management, including separate agreements, unless otherwise provided by the legislation on production sharing agreements and concessions. It shall not apply to the issuance of licenses for the right to use subsoil plots containing non-metallic minerals and for the artisanal mining of precious metals. Licenses for the right to use subsoil plots containing strategic types of minerals are granted for: (a) geological study (exploration); (b) mining; (c) use of technogenic mineral formations; (d) construction and operation of underground structures not related to the extraction of minerals; (e) formation of protected geological objects; and (f) collection of samples of gemstone raw materials, paleontological remains and other geological collection materials. Licenses, as a rule, are issued separately for each specific type of subsoil use.