Today, on June 20, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal held a hearing to consider the resumption of gas production at the Sakhalin oil and gas condensate field. During the hearing, ARMA was involved in the case as a third party. The Agency was represented in court by Deputy Head of ARMA Pavlo Velykorechanin and departmental lawyers.
Representatives of the Ukrnaftoburinnya filed a motion to postpone the hearing, and the court granted it and postponed the trial to August 6, 2024. Thus, the state will keep losing revenues, and the national interests and society will remain unsatisfied with their existing needs.
Over the past six months, ARMA has been working consistently in the interests of the state to resume gas production at the Sakhalin field. For this purpose, the National Agency has already:
- Appealed to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine to intervene in the situation with the Sakhalin field to protect the state's interests;
- Appealed to the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine to resolve the issue of gas production at the Sakhalin field;
- Filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court against the decision of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal regarding the suspension of gas production;
- Initiated a number of amendments to the Subsoil Code of Ukraine;
- Initiated and held working meetings with the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, the State Service for Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine and PrJSC MC Ukrnaftoburinnya;
- Participated in a court hearing on June 11, 2024 to consider the case on the renewal of the gas production licence for the Sakhalin field.
As a reminder, on June 11, it became impossible to make a legal decision on the renewal of the licence, as representatives of the State Service for Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine did not appear at the court hearing, which was mandatory.
ARMA has continuously called on all parties to settle issues of national interest. Currently, a draft act has been developed on amendments to the Subsoil Code of Ukraine allowing the management of seized assets without obtaining a special permission during the wartime. The relevant draft is being worked on jointly with the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and will be submitted for consideration to Parliament. As the court proceedings to renew the permission are delayed, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine should immediately consider the relevant legislative changes to protect the public interest.
