MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation is a Federal body of the Executive Branch conducting state policy and coordinating the activities of the Federal bodies of executive authority in the sphere of exploration, reproduction, utilization (management) and protection (conservation) of the natural resources employed in the countryТs economy; it is also the state body supervising the management of RussiaТs inside-earth and water resources.

The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, and its territorial and regional bodies, constitute an integral system for state management of the countryТs natural resources complex and coordination of the activities of the ministries and departments concerned with natural resources. The MinistryТs responsibilities include: reproduction, restoration, utilization (management) and protection (conservation) of mineral, raw-material and water resources, which are all-important components of the countryТs economy vital to its life and activities. The Ministry is concerned with:

Ч normative-legal, financial and economic provisions and relevant information to guarantee proper and efficient inside-earth and water management;

Ч geological exploration of the countryТs territory and continental shelf, and the World Ocean floor, as well as the resources of the Arctic regions and Antarctica;

Ч future-oriented development of and forecasts for development of the mineral and raw-material resources and water management activities;

Ч analysis of the mineral and raw-materials base and mineral and raw materials market conditions;

Ч international cooperation in the field of exploration, reproduction (restoration), utilization (management), protection (conservation) of natural resources;

Ч regulation of water resources development projects and catchment-area regulation of water resources;

Ч research, development and engineering work;

Ч monitoring of the geological environment and water bodies;

Ч forecasting of earthquakes and contemporary geodynamic processes.

RussiaТs state mining and geological service was established almost 300 years ago when the Mining Prikaz (Department) was instituted by a Decree of Tsar Peter the Great on October 2, 1700. Since then, the country has always had state bodies supervising development and exploitation of its subsoil assets and mineral and raw material resources. Thanks to their activities Russia developed into a major country producing raw materials which was crucial to the development of the vast expanses of Siberia, the Russian Far East and other remote regions, and to the establishment of large industrial centres on the said territories. RussiaТs all-important role in the worldТs raw materials complex makes it necessary to preserve state supervision over its natural resources. In value terms, the countryТs mineral and raw materials output accounts for 13-14 per cent of the worldТs entire annual output. At present the Ministry of Natural Resources, instituted by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of August 14, 1996, exercises state supervision over the countryТs inside-earth resources. The Ministry has a vast sphere of activities and is the successor to the bodies concerned with supervision over geological exploration and prospecting and production, which existed in Russia earlier. And it faithfully upholds their traditions.