Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Kazakh lower chamber of the Parliament approved the amendments set by the Senate to the bill “On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of Kazakhstan on subsoil use” on December 24.

The law contains the following conceptual and system amendments: Creation of a simplified procedure for granting rights for subsoil use building on the experience of Australia, introduction of auctions as a new method for selecting the winner of the contest, optimization of the provisions of the model contract (reducing duplicate text by 98 percent), reduction of the required expertise on contracts by up to 60 percent and exclusion of feasibility study from the list of mandatory project documents.

In addition, the law will exempt the subsoil users of the solid minerals from the obligation to coordinate changes in the contract when changing the production volumes within 20 percent of the design parameters, regulation of mineral exploitation issues in cases of expansion of the contract area, the terms for elimination of violations in cases of extension of the contract territory are provided, deadlines to eliminate violations by the subsoil users are provided. Thus, relationships of the competent authority and subsoil users will be regulated.

Adoption of the law will help ensure transparency of making decisions by the state authorities, avoiding the possibility of illegal interference in business and lifting administrative barriers at all levels. All this will lead to the expected inflow of foreign direct investment and business development in the field of geological exploration and creation of new jobs.

Earlier the Kazakh president instructed the Industry and New Technologies Ministry to meet demands in the sphere of subsoil usage and to give non-working fields to those who are eager to get involved in the development of subsoil.

In November 2013, the Ministry started conducting a thorough examination of all previously signed agreements on subsoil usage to secure new commitments.