About Draft Law No. 15454

Members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine O.V. Bondarenko and P.V. Yakymenko have registered in the Verkhovna Rada the Draft Law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Improving the Mechanisms for Granting and Exercising Subsoil Use Rights through Auctions (Electronic Bidding) and under Production Sharing Agreements” (Registration No. 15454 dated 30 July 2026).

The purpose of the draft law is to improve the mechanisms for granting and exercising subsoil use rights through auctions (electronic bidding) and under production sharing agreements. This is intended to enhance the investment climate, promote the development of mineral extraction, beneficiation and/or processing, ensure sustainable subsoil use, facilitate competitions for production sharing agreements concerning strategically and/or critically important subsoil areas (mineral deposits), and establish an appropriate legal framework for implementing production sharing agreements. The proposed changes are also expected to contribute to the implementation of the Ukraine Plan and the arrangements under the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the United States on the establishment of the American-Ukrainian Reconstruction Investment Fund.

The main objectives of the draft law are:

• – improving the legal regulation of subsoil use and strengthening guarantees for investors;
• – improving the legislative mechanism for granting subsoil areas (mineral deposits) for use through auctions (electronic bidding) and under production sharing agreements (excluding hydrocarbons), while ensuring the rational use of mineral resources and appropriate environmental protection measures;
• – improving certain land-related and other issues connected with the exercise of subsoil use rights.

The draft law also aims to comprehensively clarify a number of other provisions in the field of subsoil use in order to eliminate legal and technical shortcomings in the existing regulatory framework.

The draft law proposes amendments to certain provisions of the Code of Ukraine on Subsoil, the Land Code of Ukraine, the Mining Law of Ukraine, and the Laws of Ukraine “On Production Sharing Agreements”, “On State Support for Investment Projects with Significant Investments in Ukraine”, “On the Expropriation of Land Plots and Other Immovable Property Located Thereon, Which Are Privately Owned, for Public Needs or on Grounds of Public Necessity”, and other legislative acts.

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