Ownership Features and Developments in the Use of Subterranean Depths in the Republic of Latvia. Summary of the Doctoral Thesis

Abstract

There are conflicts of law in the existing legal framework for the use of subterranean depths in the Republic of Latvia, as well as in some areas of law there is no full legal framework, for example, for the use of geothermal heat, as well as for carbon dioxide (CO2) storage in subterranean depths (there is currently a ban on such activities in the legal framework). In the same time current legal framework in the Republic of Latvia is significantly different from the principles of the legal framework found in other European Union countries and would require improvements in accordance with the current situation and available technologies for subsoil research and practical development of resources. The topic of research work on the ownership of subsoil in this form and scope has not been made in the Republic of Latvia so far, and such research direction will make a positive contribution to the improvement of the legal environment of the Republic of Latvia and possible future economic growth. The process of using the useful properties of subsoil has not been widely used in the Republic of Latvia so far, because neither energy resources (for example, natural gas, oil) nor other chemical elements (for example, gold, oil, lithium, titanium) have been widely obtained in the Republic of Latvia, or geothermal heat has also not been used, as there has no sufficient public interest, availability of technologies and economic benefits, as well as insufficient research base on the useful properties of the subsoil of the Republic of Latvia that could be used or industrially developed, thus there has been no interest from public groups and policy makers to ensure that the issues of subsoil ownership is in detail regulated in the legal framework. As the country and society as a whole develop, its consumption and demands for energy resources and energy to meet the various needs of the economy increase. After 2014, the issue of energy independence has become topical for the European Union and especially for the Republic of Latvia, considering the Ukraine-Russia crisis, which created negative indications of developments and shifted policy emphasis to self-sufficiency and energy independence. In 2015, the Energy Union was established, whose strategic vision is to provide affordable, secure, and sustainable energy for Europe and its citizens. The Covid-19 pandemic crisis of 2019 has also created challenges for the world in terms of energy independence, logistics, speed, and volume of energy supply in crisis and emergency situations. Also, Russian military aggression in Ukraine in 2022 and spiking energy prices in European Union has reinforced the public’s focus on the Republic of Latvia energy independence. In the Republic of Latvia, the ownership of subsoil is stipulated in the Civil Law and several special industry laws, such as the Energy Law, the Law “On Subsoil”. It can be concluded that the Republic of Latvia has introduced an ownership model in which the energy resources in the subsoil belong to the owner who owns the topsoil. Such a model is relatively rare at European Union and global level. However, so far, considering that no significant use of subterranean depths has taken place in the Republic of Latvia, the legal regulation introduced in the respective ownership segment has not been widely used in practice. Also in the context of subsoil, the issue of the use of unique land features of the Republic of Latvia is topical, for example, Inčukalns underground natural gas storage, which stores natural gas energy resources that do not belong to the Republic of Latvia, does not come from the properties of the structure of the earth, as well as in the depths of the earth in the territory of the Republic of Latvia and there is a potential for a new storage of gaseous or CO2 substances, where the greatest potential is located below the surface of the earth in Dobele region.