The holder of a concession for the exploitation of mineral resources – the Concessionaire, during the duration of the concession granted by the state – the Grantor, may transfer the concession to another legal entity, respecting the procedure prescribed in detail by the law. The procedure for transfer of exploitation concession of mineral resources is in detail prescribed in the Law of Mineral Resources (“Official Gazette of Republic of Macedonia” no. 136/12, 25/13, 93/13, 44/14, 160/14, 129/15, 192/15, 39/16, 53/16, 120/16, 189/16 and “Official Gazette of Republic of North Macedonia” no. 7/19, 99/22, 129/23 и 253/23, hereinafter referred to as the “Law on Mineral Resources”).
According to the Law on Mineral Resources, the concession for the exploitation of mineral resources, can be transferred only entirety to another legal entity.
Аs provided in Article 47 of the Law on Mineral Resources, the procedure stars with the submission of a request for transfer of the exploitation concession by the Concessionaire to the Ministry of economy of Republic of North Macedonia.
Furthermore, the Ministry of economy prepares and sends a request for preparation of an assessment of the Concessionaire’s business venture to the Bureau of assessment within 15 days from the day of receipt of the request for concession transfer. The Bureau of assessment prepares the Assessment of the concessionaire’s business venture within 60 days from the day of receipt of the request for preparation of an assessment of the concessionaire’s business venture. The Assessment made by the Bureau of assessment is used in this procedure in order to calculate the compensation that the new Concessionaire will be obliged to pay.
After the receipt of the Assessment of the Concessionaire’s business venture, i.e. within 30 days of the day of receipt of the Assessment, the Ministry of economy prepares and sends a detailed proposal and decision for the transfer of the exploitation concession to the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia.
Within 30 days from the day of receipt of the detailed proposal and decision for the transfer of the exploitation concession from the Ministry of economy, the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia makes a Decision on the transfer of the exploitation concession. After making the Decision on the transfer of the exploitation concession to the new legal entity, the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, as a grantor and the new Concessionaire will conclude an Agreement for transfer of the concession.
The new Concessionaire is obliged to make a payment of the compensation in the amount of seven percent of the estimated value of the exploitation concession according to the Assessment made by the Bureau of assessment, within 30 days from the day of conclusion of the Agreement for transfer of the exploitation concession with the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia. With the payment of the compensation, the procedure for transfer of the exploitation of mineral resources is finished.
Finally, in the Law on Mineral Resources, it is prescribed that automatically with the transfer of the exploitation concession, the rights and obligations arising from the issued permits and approvals by the competent authorities in the Republic of North Macedonia which are obtained by the old Concessionaire, are transferred to the new Concessionaire. With this guarantee prescribed in the relevant law, the new Concessionaire can pick up where the old Concessionaire left off, without unnecessary business interruptions.
Taking into account everything stated above, we can logically conclude that this administrative procedure is quite complex and long, and requires the consent and opinion of many competent institutions during its course. Therefore, we at Tosic & Jevtic Law Firm are at your disposal with our legal advice, tailored guidance and assistаnce in all procedures before the competent institutions.
Ljupka Naumoska Gjorgjievska
