MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law prohibiting the issuance of licenses for the development of mineral resources to foreign companies. The document was published on the official portal of legal information.
According to the law, only legal entities established in accordance with the law of the Russian Federation, as well as individual entrepreneurs, who are citizens of Russia, can be users of national mineral resources. To continue working in Russia, foreign companies will have to create legal entities in the Russian Federation and transfer the rights to use subsoil plots to them. Valid licenses for the right to use subsoil held by foreigners will be transferred to Russian entities or returned to the subsoil fund.
The law states that within 30 days from the date it comes into effect, foreign legal entities must be notified of the need to transfer the right to use a subsoil plot to a Russian legal entity. After that, within 90 days, foreign subsoil users are required to create a legal entity in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation in order to continue their activities.
The law also stipulates that the Russian Railways company receives the right to use local subsoil plots to extract minerals for the construction of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways without auction.