Ukraine to crack down on ‘dormant’ mining licenses, plans surprise inspections

The inspections will target licenses under which no extraction has taken place, or where less than 1% of available resources have been mined since they were issued.

“The issue of so-called ‘dormant’ licenses is a major obstacle to developing the extractive sector,” Environmental Protection Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said during a government Q&A session in Parliament.

“Together with the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources and the State Geo-Control Agency, we’ve reviewed and assessed all issued licenses and the work being done under them. We’ve already compiled lists of those where no operations have started or output remains below 1% over the past 10 years,” she said.

Hrynchuk added that both solid mineral and oil and gas licenses would be subject to unscheduled inspections.

She also said the ministry is currently working to restore the legal ability to conduct scheduled inspections as well—arguing that without them, it’s impossible to effectively address the problem of dormant licenses.

The announcement comes shortly after Ukraine and the United States signed an agreement on April 30 to establish the U.S.-Ukraine Recovery Investment Fund. The fund includes 12 provisions and a list of critical raw materials and will be partially financed through revenues from both new and dormant mining licenses. Ukraine’s partner in the fund is the Public-Private Partnership Support Agency, under the Ministry of Economy.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian business associations have urged the government to reject the draft Cabinet resolution that would reinstate regular inspections of resource license holders.

On Feb. 26, 2025, the State Geology and Subsoil Service published a draft resolution proposing changes to Cabinet Resolution No. 303 of March 13, 2022. The update would allow for both scheduled and unscheduled inspections of resource users deemed to pose a high level of risk.