ArmInfo. At its first reading session on October 23, the Armenian parliament amended the Subsoil Code and the package of related laws, which were discussed the day before.
According to Lilia Shushanyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, the package provides, in particular, to streamline the administration in the subsoil use system, including when extending the terms of permits issued. Applications for extension of the terms of subsoil use are submitted to the competent authority 6 months before the expiration of their validity. Based on the studies, the applicant must provide the coordinates of the mine, as well as all the necessary statistics. Another change concerns the application of a one-time permit mechanism, which is associated with the construction of roads, reservoirs, tunnels and underground warehouses. The term for making decisions on the operation of the field will be 60 working days.
In addition, the names of all ultimate beneficiaries (shareholders, members of the Board of Directors and management structures) involved in the development of the field must be posted on a special website or portal of the state register by January 30, 2020. According to the deputy minister, all these data will be available not only to the government, but also to the public. Publication will be subject to data on the owners, whether it be one person or a group of related persons.
Recall that the publication of real owners of companies is an obligation of Armenia to the international coalition "Initiative of transparency in the extractive industry", which the republic has become a member of since March 2017. The main goal of the legislative initiative is to ensure transparency in the field of natural resources management. The first step has already been taken in this direction - from January 1 of this year. The archive fund, which provides all the information about the bowels of Armenia, has become available to all interested parties.
It should be noted that on the state balance of mineral reserves at present more than 670 deposits of solid minerals with confirmed reserves, including 30 metal, are registered. About 400 of these deposits are exploited, including 23 metal ones. There are 7 copper-molybdenum deposits, 4 copper, 14 gold and gold- polymetallic deposits, 2 iron ore and 1 aluminum ore in metallic minerals.