Foreigners will be prohibited from exporting equipment used in the exploration and extraction of natural resources from Russia.
Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov announced this today at a plenary meeting of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“I signed an order that limited the export of foreign geological exploration, production and laboratory equipment. Otherwise, many rushed to remove this equipment, especially companies with foreign capital. In three months, we issued only 16 export permits, 70 were refused. Another 400 applications are currently under consideration. I promise you that all this will be interpreted in favor of the state,” Kozlov said.
He also assured that the ministry is doing a lot of work on import substitution.
“Proposals for the protection of domestic companies in order to protect Russian partners from cases when foreigners cease their activities in joint projects. Non-residents are excluded from the list of persons who can obtain a license to use subsoil. Everything is very simple: if you want to work with Russian subsoil, register a Russian company,” Kozlov said.