The government is planning to create a new state holding to unite and coordinate the country’ s various geological assets, Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergei Donskoi said to The Moscow Times.
Rosgeologia will unite scientific institutes, industrial firms and geological information resources, the ministry said in a statement on its web site. Organizations that specialize in researching the Arctic shelf will also become part of the holding, Donskoi said.
The government is planning to increase its financing of geological research next year, Donskoi said, adding that several large oil reserves close to the strategic volume of 50 million tons will be opened this year despite a 10 percent to 20 percent decrease in research. One is the 50-million- to 80-million-ton Lugovoye oil reserve in the Saratov region, another is the 50-million-ton Chaikin reserve in the Sakha republic.
