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Weronika Pelc: We have not yet mentioned the long-awaited Hydrocarbons Act. A draft of the proposal by the Ministry of the Environment was released on 18 February 2013. It sets forth new rules for extraction of fossil fuels in Poland. It introduces a National Operator of Energy Mines (NOKE), in order to assure that there is a “government take” in the concessions. In the future, the division of concessions between prospecting, exploration and extraction is to be eliminated. The draft presented in February specifies the new level of fees for extraction of hydrocarbons. It also covers other administrative, procedural and environmental issues, but without tax regulations, which are to be included in a separate act. This aspect is of great interest to investors, because the government has announced that it plans to introduce new taxes so that the total taxation will be 40% of gross profit.
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