On June 17 2011 Parliament approved amendments to the Production Sharing Agreements Law that would reintroduce a stabilisation clause which previously received a presidential veto in 2010. The amendments came into effect on July 14 2011.
The amendments were drafted by the Fuel and Energy Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce and have now been submitted for the president's approval.
According to the stabilisation clause, the state guarantees that an investor's rights and obligations under a production sharing agreement shall be immune from legislative changes adopted after the agreement has been signed, except for changes that:
- are beneficial to the investor; or
- concern defence, national security, public order or environmental safety.
Players in the upstream oil and gas industry have welcomed this as a pro-investor development and consider that, if approved, the reintroduction of the stabilisation clause will be beneficial to the investment climate.
For further information on this topic please contact Yaroslav Petrov at Asters by telephone (+380 44 230 6000), fax (+380 44 230 6001) email ([email protected]).