Russian Subsoil Resources: Free at Last

The State Duma has amended the law on subsoil resources and cancelled charges for access to geologic information. The amendments will come into force on January 1, 2011.
For a long time geologic information was considered al sort of intellectual property so that access to it cost at least 10,000 rubles. This was quite hard for small businesses seeking new mineral resource fields, as well as for research organizations.