OREANDA-NEWS. On May 19th, the Federation Council Committee on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management approved a list of measures aimed at provision of state incentives to uranium mining industry of the Russia's nuclear sector.

We would like to recall that on April 23, a round table at the Federation Council was held, whose members discussed the topical issues of improving legislation in the field of extraction and processing of natural uranium.

The strategic importance of uranium production for the development of energy sector and strengthening of the Russia's national security, as well as the presence of rich mineral resources and modern industrial facilities capable of meeting the Russian uranium needs today and for decades to come were noted. With that, protracted unfavorable situation in the world uranium market, formed after the accident at Fukushima-1 in Japan, has left a negative impact on the development of the industry.
In early 2015 the need for state regulation of the strategic sector was raised on the 12th Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum, where the socio-economic development of the Far East and Trans-Baikal regions was discussed at the expanded meeting with participation of public authorities. In particular, they talked about the future development of the city of Krasnokamensk and its backbone enterprise PJSC PIMCU, influenced by the negative impact of the market.

Construction of the Mine No. 6 was recommended to be included in the federal target program "Economic Development of the Far East and Trans-Baikal regions up to 2018" as a very important prerequisite for further operation of the enterprise. The project includes the development of high-quality deposits, which will enable the company to maintain a stable and competitive production for decades.

Later, the initiative was supported by the Coordination Council under Plenipotentiary of the RF President in the Siberian Federal District Nikolai Rogozhkin. According to the decision of the Council, a recommended was adopted to include Zabaikalsky Krai in the list of Russian Federation subjects where Priority Socio-Economic Development Area (PSEDA) may be created. This opens up broad prospects for the development of an attractive investment venue in the region, with its center in the town of Krasnokamensk, and helps create new jobs.

Taking into account the evolving situation as well as the critical importance of maintaining the level of production of the strategic raw material, parliamentarians supported the above initiatives and approved the list of state support measures for the uranium mining industry.

The key areas will be the introduction of zero rate for mining extraction tax and property tax, a set of measures aimed at simplifying the system of granting subsoil use rights, inclusion in the Federal Target Program "Economic Development of the Far East and Trans-Baikal regions up to 2018", and construction of infrastructure facilities of the city of Krasnokamensk.

Previously, on April 16th, according to the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, Krasnokamensk was included in the list of Category I Single-Industry Municipalities which according to the Federal Law No.473 of 29.12.2014 allows creating a PSEDA here.

According to the decision of the relevant committee, actions related to registration of Krasnokamensk as a Priority Socio-Economic Development Area were assigned urgent status. The work must be completed before the end of 2015.

The relevant recommendations were submitted to the Security Council of the Russian Federation, federal and regional authorities of the Russian Federation, Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation. During the spring session next year, the Federation Council is planning to review the results of the work done.