The government will seek opinions from foreign investors on proposed changes to laws needed to unlock the country’s lucrative oil, gas and metals reserves and woo back companies scared off by a decade of resource nationalism.
Long-awaited revisions to tough laws on foreign investment in strategic mineral fields should be ready by the end of January, when they will be presented to investors, said Igor Artemyev, head of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service.
“The prime minister has ordered that the changes to foreign investment laws be discussed with investors, both Russian and foreign, prior to their being passed by the government,” he told reporters Monday. “The new law will be ready between the middle and the end of January. Then the Economic Development Ministry will have a series of public discussions with investors.”
The government is seeking to entice investors deterred by the wave of resource nationalism that marked Vladimir Putin’s eight years as president and led to Royal Dutch Shell ceding control of Sakhalin-2 to Gazprom.
But as state firms venture into even tougher environments for oil and gas, they need the technology and financial backing of Western firms, analysts say.
“For us, one of the main points is the possibility for keeping the license on a field if, during exploration work, it turns out the deposit falls under the ‘strategic’ category,” said a spokesperson for a Western company present in Russia.
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