Kazakhstan, Astana, March 6 / Trend, D. Mukhtarov /
119 contracts for solid minerals with negligent subsoil users in Kazakhstan have been canceled within last three years, the Vice Minister of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Sauranbayev told Trend.
"Over the past three years, the Ministry of Industry has conducted a lot of work with subsoil users within a moratorium on issuing of contracts for the development of mineral resources. 929 audits of companies were conducted during this time resulting in the issuance of 611 notices of non-performance of contractual obligations and the termination of 119 contracts," Sauranbayev said on the sidelines of an extended meeting of the working group for the development of proposals for amendments to the law "On Subsoil and Subsoil Use".
The Vice Minister said that the moratorium on the issuance of licenses for subsoil use was introduced in 2008, when the government began to develop a new tax law. The new tax code, which introduces the rejection of the stability of contracts and tightening taxation of the mining sector, has been in effect since January 2009.
"The main aim of the moratorium was to restore order in subsoil use. By 2008, all of the main deposits were transferred to resource users. And as the practice showed, there were the so-called "raw tourists" among them, who obtained deposits, and without investing in their development, resold them as raw material prices increased," Sauranbayev said.
In November 2012, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered the government to consider lifting the moratorium on the production of certain minerals to make the regions more attractive to investors.