MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. The Russian energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft may get new licenses for developing hydrocarbon deposits on the Arctic shelf in the coming months, Natural Resources Minister Sergey Donskoy said on Tuesday.

“I believe new licenses will be issued in winter — in December or January next year,” he said. The minister said unallocated deposit blocs remained on the shelf, adding “Gazprom and Rosneft are filing applications.”

As of August 1, 2014, Gazprom and Rosneft received 113 hydrocarbon blocks on the Russian Arctic shelf. In early September, the Russian government granted Gazprom the right to develop the North-Western hydrocarbon bloc while Rosneft received the license for the Deryuginskoye deposit.

Under the Russian law on subsoil, these continental shelf blocs of federal significance are provided for exploration and development without auctions.