The section with special extraction permit data needs to be supplemented: DiXi Group
In June 2021, the National Security and Defense Council ordered a public audit of all special extraction permits issued since 1994. In October, the relevant data became available on the State Geological Portal
In June 2021, the National Security and Defense Council ordered a public audit of all special extraction permits issued since 1994. In October, the relevant data became available on the State Geological Portal
The dataset concerning special extraction permits, recently published on the State Geological Portal, needs to be supplemented. Nevertheless, the publication of this dataset already represents the first step toward increasing transparency of the sector, DiXi Group analysts said after analyzing the status of disclosing this information and the convenience of its use.
“The published file contains data concerning 3044 special extraction permits that were issued, including information about the resource, extraction site, permit issuance method, available reserves, production indicators during the permit validity period (for classification of a special permit as a so-called “dormant license”), rent payments, and ultimate beneficial owners. A positive aspect of this publication is the fact that one source contains a large array of data that was previously scattered over different sources, making the search of information about a particular special extraction permit complicated. At the same time, the format in which this information is published needs to be improved, because presently, the option of analyzing information by filtering and sorting it is unavailable,” the analysts say.
Some of the published categories contain incomplete information:
- for 227 permits, information about the reasons for issuing them is unavailable;
- for 1016 permits issued prior to 2019 inclusively, information about the 2020 production output is unavailable;
- for 622 permits issued prior to 2019 inclusively, information about production output since the beginning of the permit’s validity period is unavailable;
- for 172 permits, information about the ultimate beneficial owners is unavailable (stating “n/a” without explanation).
“The subsoil audit data has the potential to become a convenient instrument for sectoral analysts, if supplemented and properly formatted. This information could be supplemented with historical data, in particular, taken from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) reports. These systemic reports allow to fill certain gaps, and the correct data format would allow to use it for analysis of dynamics,” the commentary says.
