Bill on Expanding Access to Mining on Russian Arctic Shelf Needs Review - Minister

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2020) The bill proposed by the Russian Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East on diversification of access to natural resources on Russia's Arctic shelf has yet to be scrutinized before the creation of a consortium of actors with access can be discussed, Minister of Natural Resources Dmitry Kobylkin told Sputnik on Monday.

"It is premature to discuss the creation of a consortium of subsoil users, as the bill being prepared by the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East needs substantial elaboration," Kobylkin said, when asked to specify the market conditions that would necessitate the creation of a consortium for works on the Arctic shelf.

The bill, put forward by the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East last week, proposes to expand access opportunities to the Russian Arctic shelf mining to Russian and foreign companies and to nominate an agent company that would represent the Russian government's interests in this consortium.