Amid the license for subsoil use investor must obtain a “mining allotment” issued by the State Service for Industrial Safety – for the deposits of the national importance and by the Regional Councils for the deposits of the local importance.
However, for geological exploration, including the pilot development of mineral deposits of national importance, subsoil is available for use without granting mining allotment after obtaining a special permit for geological exploration.
Mining allotment can only be provided if:
Special permit does not provide any land plot use rights.
Provision of land for the needs related to subsoil use is held after registration in the prescribed manner of subsoil use rights (the license for subsoil use and, if necessary, mining allotment).
The land plot can be allocated to a private entity into lease or ownership for the purposes of the exploration and/or production of minerals provided it is of non-agricultural assignment.
For production of minerals the designated purpose of the land plot must be of industrial assignment, but this is not necessary for the exploration.
There is a moratorium on change of the designated purpose of agricultural land in Ukraine (however, it is not applicable to PSA projects). Nevertheless there exist a road-map for court based solution for some types of deposit.