Reference
The directive was drafted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in accordance with the requirements of Article 101 of the Law of the Russian Federation On Natural Resources, as well as clauses 2 and 12 of the Regulations on Examining Requests for the Right to Use Natural Resources Following the Establishment of the Fact of Discovering a Mineral Deposit on a Federally-Owned Territory or in an Area Listed among Federally-Owned Territories after the Discovery of a Mineral Deposit by a Company That has Conducted Prospecting and Mining Operations at its own Expense. These regulations were approved by Government Resolution No 897 of November 27, 2008.
The relevant materials, which have been submitted for this mineral deposit, include a certificate of the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use (Rosnedra) on establishing the fact of discovering the Zapadno-Rakushechnoye oilfield, expert findings, which contain estimates of the crude-oil and dissolved-gas reserves at the Zapadno-Rakushechnoye oilfield, excerpts from the state mineral-deposits balance sheet on the state of hydrocarbon reserves at the Zapadno-Rakushechnoye oilfield, as well as the constituent documents of the Caspian Oil Company. Therefore, the Caspian Oil Company submitted a request under the established procedure for the right to use mineral deposits for the purpose of hydrocarbon prospecting and extraction operations at the Zapadno-Rakushechnoye oilfield.
Under Article 40 of the Law of the Russian Federation On Natural Resources, users of mineral resources receiving the right to exploit mineral deposits shall make lump-sum payments for the use of natural resources.