Currently, the countries exercising sovereign rights to subsoil use can conclude production-sharing agreements in accordance with their respective laws.
Russian Federation law, however, does not fully reflect the specific circumstances of developing hydrocarbon resources in the northern part of the Caspian Sea, and this prevents Russia from carrying out such activity with maximum benefit and could in the future lead to a decrease in revenue for Russia.
To this end, the Protocol defines the specific circumstances for developing hydrocarbon resources in the Tsentralnaya field, based on both countries’ interest in the joint development of this field’s hydrocarbon resources.