The Right of a Local Self-Government Body to Use Common Mineral Resources for Municipal Needs

Based on the analysis of legislation on the subsoil and judicial practice, a gap has been identified in the regulation of relations on the use of common minerals for their own needs, lo-cated on a land plot owned by a local government body. The study found that the list of norma-tively fixed personal needs, which include personal, household and other non-entrepreneurial needs, does not include municipal needs. This entails the impossibility of properly exercising the right of a municipality as the owner of a land plot to use common minerals for its own needs, which is confirmed by established judicial practice. In order to rationalize the use of subsurface resources, attention is focused on the need for priority use for municipal needs of common minerals contained in overburden and host rocks. The results of the study are aimed at overcoming the identified legal gaps and are reflected in specific proposals for improving the current legislation.