Official: Foreigners not need rewards for Russian field exploration

MOSCOW, Sep 6 (PRIME) -- The Russian Natural Resources and Environment Ministry sees no need in special measures to invite foreign companies for geological exploration in the country, Yevgeny Kiselyov, director of the Federal Mineral Resources Agency, told PRIME in an interview published on Tuesday.

“If we talk about the business conditions, they are standard and unified for everyone. We have no need in making any special offers to foreign companies,” Kiselyov said.

He said that in 2015, the amount of investments in geological exploration works made about 14 billion rubles. “And unlike the rest of the world, we fell by only 28%, not three times, concerning the investments in geological exploration.”

According to Kiselyov, foreign companies, such as Kinross and Falconbridge, are interested in geological exploration in Russia.

The official separately said that he sees a suspension of field license issuance for state companies a rational step: “We think that enough licenses have been given for the shelf…Companies have fulfilled the amount envisaged by license agreements to a significant extent.”

(64.7644 rubles – U.S. $1)

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