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Mikhail Prokhorov's Intergeo won an arbitration court decision to suspend an auction for the Ak-Sug copper-molybdenum deposit, for which Rosnedra had previously revoked the license from the group's structures. The temporary measure was adopted as part of the company's appeal of the regulator's decision. In December, Rostec planned to hold a new auction in which the structures could participate. According to lawyers, the adoption of temporary measures could delay the trial.
The Arbitration Court of Krasnoyarsk Krai has suspended auctions for the Ak-Sug oil field in Tuva while it considers claims by Mikhail Prokhorov's Intergeo against Rosnedra. This is stated in the court's decision of October 9. As stated in the document, Rosnedra is prohibited from holding auctions for these assets, as well as from taking actions to formalize, register, and issue licenses for the right to use subsoil areas for exploration and extraction of minerals. Intergeo and Rosnedra declined to comment.
The license for the deposit previously belonged to Golevskaya Mining and Processing Company, which is part of Intergeo. The company planned to build a mining and processing plant capable of producing 500 thousand tons of copper-molybdenum concentrate per year and processing 24 million tons of ore. According to the Intergeo website, the start of mining is planned for 2024, the launch of the mining and processing plant and production - in 2026. However, in May, Rosnedra revoked the permit, citing violations of the infrastructure construction deadlines (see Kommersant of June 13). Intergeo previously told Kommersant that it was building in accordance with the law.
As stated in the ruling, the adopted interim measures provide the applicant with the opportunity to implement the court decision in compliance with the requirements and prevent negative consequences associated with the auction. The decision to satisfy the application for interim measures cannot be appealed, the document says. Intergeo also asked to suspend the Rosnedra decision for the duration of the dispute, but the court rejected this motion.
Rosnedra has scheduled a new auction for the Ak-Sugskoye deposit in December for September. The start of payments is 3.5 billion rubles. Subsoil use permits are issued for a period of 20 years, and applications for participation in the auction will be accepted from September 10 to November 15. According to the terms of the auction, any company with a share of at least 50% in Rostec can apply for participation. In addition to copper, molybdenum, gold and silver, Ak-Sug contains rhenium reserves, which are included in the list of strategic metals widely used in aircraft engine manufacturing (see Kommersant of September 2).
Having announced the auction, the government promised to allocate 4 billion rubles. For investment projects in Tuva. The funds will allow the construction of overhead power lines and other energy infrastructure necessary for the operation of the mining and processing plant at the Ak-Sug copper-porphyry deposit, the construction of which is planned to be carried out by a private investor. This was reported by the government press service.
Evgeny Zharov, managing partner of Zharov Group, said that the adoption of interim measures could slow down the trial, since the court will take into account additional circumstances related to the claim.
However, he noted that this cannot be considered a prolongation of the conflict. In the latter case, the party may, without good reason, repeatedly request a postponement of the hearing, request additional evidence that is not relevant to the case, delay the submission of documents, frequently change procedural positions and demands, etc. The lawyer explains that this can be done.