Russia to launch automated subsoil license monitoring system in June 2027

MOSCOW. August 12 (Interfax) - An automated system for monitoring compliance by subsoil users with licenses should be fully operational on June 1, 2027, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry's press service said.

"The automated system is currently operating in pilot mode, with [Federal Subsurface Resources Agency] Rosnedra specialists continuing to manually verify any violations of license obligations detected by the system. But the system will be fully operational from June 1, 2027, and the verification process will be fully automated. This means it will compare planned indicators online on a daily basis with company reports and actual work done," the press service quoted Alexander Kozlov, the natural resources minister, as saying.

The head of Rosnedra, Oleg Kazanov, said in an interview with Interfax in June 2025 that the agency was testing the system on prospecting licenses. "This is an extremely complex task with many variables. We need to monitor compliance with license terms, secondary license obligations, a large number of technical documents, and other things. We are currently developing a selection toolkit that will be automatically accounted for in the control system," he said.

The new system will inevitably lead to an increase in the detection of violators and license revocations, he said. "But the goal is not to revoke licenses. Currently, we identify about 1,300-1,400 violations annually, and practice shows that roughly two thirds of these are corrected. We believe that with the automated control system in place, out of the 24,000-25,000 licenses Rosnedra will manage by then, violations will be detected in approximately 5,000-6,000 licenses."