The federal law implements the decision of the Presidential Commission for Strategic Development of the Fuel and Energy Sector and Environmental Security, which allows the sale of licenses for exploration and development of federal deposits through auctions only.
Decisions on such auctions, composition and procedure of auction commissions in respect of each deposit or a group of deposits shall be made by the Government of the Russian Federation.
The federal law declares invalid certain legal provisions of the Law On Subsoil Resources, federal laws On Continental Shelf of the Russian Federation and On Gas Supply in the Russian Federation, which allowed the sale of licences to develop federal deposits through tenders.