Following the adoption of amendments to the Subsoil Code in March 2023, many mining companies were forced to shut down their operations

However, following the amendments to the sanctions lists in June 2024, the permits of some of these companies were renewed.

Taras Ryabchenko, lawyer-analyst at the ILI, spoke for "Громадське інтерактивне телебачення" about the importance of unblocking the work of extractive companies and a balanced state policy in the field of sanctions.

First of all, the expert notes that the imposition of sanctions on individuals who were engaged in anti-Ukrainian activities did not affect the work of mining companies for which these individuals had permits. However, after the amendments to the Code were made, a number of mining permits held by sanctioned oligarchs (Novinsky, Firtash, Naumets, and others) were suspended.

Taras Ryabchenko points out that blocking the work of these companies has led to the loss of jobs and revenues to the state budget. In addition, some subsoil extraction companies are essential for the defense industry of our country, so the issue of unblocking them is an important issue for the government.

‘On the one hand, we must prevent any sanctioned person from receiving any amount of money from our enterprises, and on the other hand, we must allow these enterprises to extract our subsoil on our territory, and, as a result, to receive income for themselves, but also to pay taxes to the state budget of our country,’ the expert emphasizes.