New transparent procedure introduced to approve issuing permits for subsoil use in Ukraine

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine approved a new Order of activity of the Commission that approves issuing permits for the subsurface use, which makes it impossible to delay the process of considering documents and enables protecting entrepreneurs from ungrounded denials. Whereas, the community obtains an opportunity to monitor the work of the Commission.

The officials of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources explain that under the new rules, the Commission shall be summoned twice a month, and the agenda shall be adopted three working days before the meeting with obligatory publishing on the Ministry's website – respectively, the civil society gets an access to the issues that are to be considered. The meeting’s minutes shall also be posted on the official website.

The decision on the approval by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources a permit on subsoil use will be made only if all members of the Commission vote in favour of it. The new procedure also envisages that in case a package is returned for revision, the Commission's decision shall contain reasoned arguments.