EMERGING MINERAL POLICY AND LEGISLATION IN THE ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT OF THE CENTRAL-ASIAN REPUBLICS

With the dissolution of the former Soviet Union in 1991, the nations o f Central Asia gained independence and began the transition to market driven economies. Within the CARs, Uzbekistan has the most complete co de of foreign investment laws, followed by Kyrgyzstan, Kazakstan and T ajikistan, respectively. However, the investment codes are (a) general ly unclear and often contradictory, Ob) legal advice is difficult to o btain and (c administrative and judicial support of the law is rudimen tary in the CAR nations. Kazakstan leads the way in its development of mineral legislation amongst the CAR nations, whereas Tajikistan is th e least developed. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, respectively, have some recent legislation but have yet to develop the necessary protections a nd procedures to warrant investor confidence in their legislative and administrative schemes. Presently enacted mineral-related legislation in the Central Asian Nations is best regarded more as legislative 'pri nciples' rather than actual legislative, regulatory and administrative frameworks and procedures for mineral development. As a result most f oreign investors in the mineral sector are opting to negotiate detaile d agreements with the government rather than to rely on the existing l egislation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.