The Legal Regulation of Use and Protection of Mineral Resources in the Pre-Caspian Regions in the Context of the Green Economy Tasks
Authors: Ryzhenkov Anatoly 
Published: October 2024

Introduction: nowadays, there is a transition from the traditional methods of use and protection of natural resources to technologies driven by Russia’s movement towards sustainable development. One of the means to achieve the goals of sustainable development is the greening of all types of economic activities (the transition to a green economy), including the emergence of new challenges in the field of the use and protection of mineral resources. A legal framework has already been established to ensure the rational use and protection of mineral resources, but a number of gaps in the federal and regional legislation still remain. The purpose of the study is to reveal the features and possible directions of ecologization of the subsurface use within the territory of the three Pre-Caspian regions. Methods: the following methods were used when writing the paper. The analysis method made it possible to identify the main features of the category “protection of mineral resources” and the effectiveness of its protection in the Pre-Caspian regions; the synthesis was used to generalize the typological features of the ecological and legal categories used in the paper; the analogy method made it possible to identify the practical features of the use and protection of mineral resources in three Pre-Caspian regions. The comparative law method made it possible to study the foreign experience of digitalization of management, which can also be used in regulating the subsurface use in Russia. The formal and legal method made it possible to identify the features and specifics of the statutory regulation of the use and protection of mineral resources during the transition of the Russian Federation to a green economy. Results: active mining (including oil and gas) is taking place in the three Pre-Caspian regions, and the regional mineral resources laws have been adopted. In these laws, the main attention is paid to the provision of local mineral resources for use, while the regional features of protection of mineral resources are very poorly represented. Three Pre-Caspian regions are characterized by federal problems in the field of subsurface use, including the absence of specially protected areas with mineral resources, the inability to involve the mineral resources in civil circulation, the insufficient digitalization of management processes in the provision of the mineral resources for use, the problems of economic stimulation of rational use and protection of mineral resources, as well as the compensation for damage caused during the use of the mineral resources. Conclusions: the Astrakhan region, the Republics of Dagestan and Kalmykia, as the regions with access to the Caspian Sea, have similar problems in the field of the use and protection of mineral resources, which require reflection in their regional legislation. When working it out, it is necessary to take into account the international regime of the Caspian Sea waters, the unique environmental and economic conditions for the use and protection of land and mineral resources in the coastal zones.