The State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine (Derzhgeonadra) posted the first 10 lots in ProZorro.Sales, which will be subsequently offered at transparent auctions. This was announced by acting Chairman of Derzhgeonadra Oleh Kyryliuk at the briefing which took place on Wednesday.

He stated that within the framework of the pilot project launched in November, the first permissions were put on sale in the system on December 4, and all of them relate to oil and gas sites. “In the future, we expect to offer 5-10 lots, i.e. permissions each month”, said Oleh Kyryliuk.

According to the terms of the pilot project, the lots are exposed for 90 days, which will allow the potential buyers to thoroughly prepare for the auctions. There are no restrictions for the auction participants, but they should be legal entities registered in Ukraine. To avoid so-called “dormant” licenses, the winner of the tender will be obliged to perform a mandatory minimum list of works, otherwise the buyer will be deprived of the license.

The launch of transparent auctions for sale of permissions to use subsoil is a significant progress for the reform of public sales, according to First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Maksym Nefiodov. “ProZorro.Sales has been successfully selling assets of banks, state-owned companies, municipal enterprises, and is completely ready to sell the permission to use subsoil”, emphasized he.

“We invite all interested buyers not to hesitate and register on the sites, study lots and prepare for the first electronic auctions”, noted acting Director of SE “PROZORRO.SALES” Oleksii Sobolev.

Earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Resolution “On the implementation of an experimental project on the introduction of auctions for the sale of special permissions to use subsoil through electronic auction” (https://bit.ly/2AncUBx). According to the document, the auctions for sale of special permissions to use subsoil are held solely in accordance with the Provisional Procedure approved in the above-mentioned Resolution.

In pursuance of the Resolution, on December 27 Derzhgeonadra signed an agreement with SE “PROZORRO.SALES” for launching the pilot project on open electronic auctions for sale of permissions to use subsoil. The pilot project will last until September 1, and based on its results Derzhgeonadra will formulate the proposals as to the mandatory use of electronic auctions.

Thanks to open auctions at ProZorro.Sales, the state and local communities have already sold assets to almost UAH 12 billion.