The Verkhovna Rada supported the draft law №4187 in the second reading "Regarding the improvement of legislation in the field of subsoil use", which launches the reform of subsoil use in Ukraine. According to the authors of the document, this is a long-awaited step to support the development of domestic industries of subsoil use.
EcoPolitic has prepared for its readers everything they need to know about the document. 276 people's deputies voted "for", 0 — against, 15 — abstained.
Goal: creating a transparent, convenient and understandable subsoil use system, reducing excessive state influence on the industry, increasing competition and legalizing relations in the field of subsoil use.
The draft law introduces the following norms:
- Submission of documents and reports in electronic form through the electronic office, in particular for the initiation of new plots for submission to electronic auctions.
- The geological study is replaced by a complex (end-to-end) special permit for a period of 3 to 20 years, within which it is allowed to combine the exploration of minerals with their extraction.
- The initial sale price at the electronic auction of such a permit on subsoil areas, where there are no mineral reserves approved in the prescribed manner, is unified and depends on transparent criteria (the size of the area of the area and the mineral group), minimizing the subjective factor. The value of subsoil plots with approved reserves is determined according to the relevant Methodology of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
- At the level of the law, an exhaustive list of cases of granting a special permit without holding an auction is established, which eliminate the risks of abuse and guarantee a logical inheritance for investors.
- A clear and comprehensive list of cases in which it is possible to cancel the permission to use the subsoil, as well as cases of its temporary suspension, is established. The subsurface user is given 20 calendar days after the suspension of the special permit to stop carrying out work on the subsurface area provided for his use.
- The holder of a special permit for the use of subsoil has the right to sell, use as a pledge or otherwise alienate the rights to another legal entity or individual.
- The list of documents in the package for granting a special permit is halved, and a number of documents are also canceled.
- A new rule is being implemented on the priority right to obtain special permits for the use of local minerals for owners of land plots with an area of up to 25 hectares.
"The draft law No. 4187, adopted by the people's deputies in the second reading, modernizes the regulation of the field of subsoil use, increases its investment attractiveness, makes the rules of the game clear and predictable. In turn, it requires increased transparency of state control and publicity of information about subsoil users," he commented on the decision the head of the State Geology and Subsoil Service of Ukraine Roman Opimakh of the draft law.
The main tasks after the reform of subsoil use are:
- ensuring stable and equal rules of access to the subsoil,
- the introduction of deregulation and digitization of the permit procedure, i.e. the establishment of the State Geodesy as a modern service department,
- using the best international practices, including, in particular, the right to evaluate reserves according to international standards,
- improving state control and increasing the publicity of information by introducing clear grounds and procedures for stopping and canceling a special permit.
The key innovations are the liberalization of the circulation of special permits and the introduction of end-to-end licenses for exploration and production. In particular, the concept of "small subsoil use" is introduced, which provides for the possibility to obtain a special permit for the development of minerals of local importance outside the auction for the owners of land plots with an area of up to 25 hectares.
"The new rules of the game are designed to deregulate the field of subsoil use, which, as a result, will speed up the granting of a special permit three times. This became possible thanks to the cancellation of duplicate permits - mining right-of-way (except for underground works), approval of field development projects by the State Geological Survey and implementation of DKZ protocols, reduction the number of cases requiring the conclusion of the Ministry of Environment, as well as the complete cancellation of approval by local self-government bodies for the provision of local minerals for use," Opimakh noted.
It is noted that draft law 4187 will enter into force three months after it is signed by the president and made public.
The National Association of the Extractive Industry of Ukraine approved the adoption of the law.
"This is a qualitatively new and not for the first time a really comprehensive approach to the reform of subsoil use. The changes brought by this law will give us the opportunity to fight with "sleeping" areas of the subsoil and bring benefits from them to the economy, regulate the obtaining of special permits and control over their use, revitalize market of subsoil use and will even simplify the access of subsoil users to land plots," said CEO of NADPU Ksenia Orynchak.
As EcoPolitic reported earlier, Verkhovna Rada supported this draft law in the first reading on June 1, 2021.
Recently, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Yevgeny Fedorenko stated that the development of subsoil use in the coming years will be closely related to reconstruction and will be based on the Recovery Plan of Ukraine.
