# How to open a stone, sand or clay quarry in Moldova, and what the law requires for oil, gas and exploration

The subsoil is public property, so a deposit cannot be bought: the state grants its use through a subsoil use permit from the Environment Agency. There is no licence, except for natural gas production and work with explosives. The page starts with building stone, limestone and gypsum and moves on to sand, gravel and clay, where the rules are the same but the tax is different. Then come oil and natural gas, which are awarded by tender and a Government decision, and geological exploration and drilling.

## In brief

- **CAEM codes:** Divisions 06, 08 and 09 (for geological exploration, 71.12 as well)
- **Core document:** Subsoil use permit (free of charge, from the Environment Agency)
- **Environment:** Environmental permit for every class in section B (with no capacity threshold)
- **Extraction tax:** From 12 lei per m³ of sand to 150 lei per tonne of oil (calculated and paid every half-year)

## Stone or limestone quarry: the subsoil use permit and the environmental consent

Building stone and limestone may be extracted only from deposits with approved reserves entered in the State Geological Register. The right comes from a subsoil use permit, issued by the Environment Agency free of charge for the term set in the technical design, but for no more than 20 years. Deposits are awarded by tender, except one you explored at your own expense. Every quarry goes through an environmental impact assessment.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 08.11 | Quarrying of ornamental and building stone, limestone, gypsum, chalk and slate | Quarrying, rough trimming and sawing of building stone, breaking and crushing it, and quarrying of limestone, gypsum, chalk and dolomite. Sorting and crushing done by the quarry stay in this class. |
| 23.70 | Cutting, shaping and finishing of stone | Cutting and shaping stone for buildings, monuments and roads away from the quarry is manufacturing, not extraction. A stonemason’s workshop does not need a subsoil use permit. |

- **Authorisation: Subsoil use permit** — Environment Agency, valid for Exploration: 5 years; extraction: up to 20 years. Any geological exploration of the subsoil and any extraction of minerals. A single permit may cover several activities. It is applied for through the one-stop shop and issued free of charge. For extraction, the term is the one in the technical design for extraction and land reclamation, up to 20 years, and it can be extended for periods of up to five years. Work must start within 12 months of issue.
- **Authorisation: Environmental consent** — Environment Agency, valid for 4 years. Quarries, open-pit and underground mining and commercial oil and gas extraction are on the list of activities that require an environmental impact assessment, with no threshold. The mine is designed only after the assessment. A national-level assessment, including the issue of the consent, costs 12,300 lei.
- **Authorisation: Environmental permit** — Environment Agency, valid for 6 years. Every class of mining and quarrying, from oil and gas to stone, sand, clay and peat, including support activities, is on the list of activities with low environmental risk, with no capacity threshold. It costs 20,000 lei.
- **Licence: Licence for operations with explosives for civil use** — Public Services Agency, valid for No expiry. Work with explosives is carried out only by a licensed legal entity, with compliant storage facilities, transport for dangerous goods and at least one shotfirer on staff. The fee is 3,250 lei. A quarry without the licence contracts a licensed company, and the blasting contract goes into the file for the clearance from the National Inspectorate for Technical Supervision.
- **Authorisation: Clearance to carry out blasting works** — National Inspectorate for Technical Supervision, valid for 36 months for multiple blasts; 3 days for a single blast. Blasting in a quarry. The file contains the blasting contract, a topographic plan with the danger zones, the required approvals, the order appointing the person in charge and, in built-up areas, the design of the works. It is issued free of charge within three days. Every 12 months the holder resubmits the documents, otherwise the clearance ceases to have effect. Blasting must also be agreed with the town hall.

**Who buys it:** Construction and road-building companies, which buy crushed stone and masonry blocks; lime and cement plants; and sugar factories, which use a particular limestone in production, taxed at its own rate under the Tax Code.

**What is different about the money:** The extraction tax is 15 lei per m³ of building stone, 21 lei per m³ of limestone cut into wall blocks and 48 lei per m³ of natural facing stone. Limestone for lime is taxed at 12 lei per m³, limestone for the sugar industry and raw material for cement at 12 lei per tonne, and gypsum at 21 lei per tonne.

## Gravel pit, sand or clay quarry: the same documents as for stone, a different tax

Under the Subsoil Code, sand and clay are widespread minerals, with the same rules as building stone: approved reserves, a tender or exploration at your own expense, a technical design, an environmental consent and the subsoil use permit. The only exception is extraction down to five metres for public roads, railways and dykes, which does not require the subsoil to be granted and is carried out under a design agreed with the Environment Agency.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 08.12 | Operation of gravel and sand pits; mining of clays and kaolin | Extraction and dredging of sand for construction and industry, extraction of gravel, breaking and crushing it, and mining of clay, refractory clay and kaolin. |
| 08.99 | Other mining and quarrying n.e.c. | Diatomite and other siliceous fossil meals, quartz, feldspar, talc, natural graphite and precious stones. Diatomite and tripoli have their own line in the extraction tax, at 12 lei per m³. |

- **Authorisation: Subsoil use permit** — Environment Agency, valid for Exploration: 5 years; extraction: up to 20 years. Any geological exploration of the subsoil and any extraction of minerals. A single permit may cover several activities. It is applied for through the one-stop shop and issued free of charge. For extraction, the term is the one in the technical design for extraction and land reclamation, up to 20 years, and it can be extended for periods of up to five years. Work must start within 12 months of issue.
- **Authorisation: Environmental consent** — Environment Agency, valid for 4 years. Quarries, open-pit and underground mining and commercial oil and gas extraction are on the list of activities that require an environmental impact assessment, with no threshold. The mine is designed only after the assessment. A national-level assessment, including the issue of the consent, costs 12,300 lei.
- **Authorisation: Environmental permit** — Environment Agency, valid for 6 years. Every class of mining and quarrying, from oil and gas to stone, sand, clay and peat, including support activities, is on the list of activities with low environmental risk, with no capacity threshold. It costs 20,000 lei.

**Who buys it:** Construction and road-building companies and concrete producers, which buy sand, gravel and crushed stone as aggregates; brick, tile and ceramics factories, for clay; and glass factories, for quartz sand.

**What is different about the money:** The tax is 12 lei per m³ of sand and gravel, 15 lei per m³ of clay for bricks and tiles and 18 lei per m³ of clay for ceramics. Sand for glass is taxed by the tonne, at 15 lei. The company calculates the tax itself every half-year, on the volume extracted, excluding losses in the extraction process.

## Oil and gas extraction: a tender, a Government decision and the ANRE licence for gas

Oil and natural gas are minerals of national importance. They are extracted only in areas designated and published by the Ministry of Environment, from deposits with approved reserves. The permit is awarded through a public tender held 90 days after it is announced and comes with a concession contract; the Government makes the decision. Gas also needs a production licence from ANRE, issued for 25 years and only to legal entities.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 06.10 | Extraction of crude petroleum | Extraction of crude oil and its preparation for shipment: decanting, desalting and dehydration. Refining falls under 19.20, and pipeline transport under 49.50. |
| 06.20 | Extraction of natural gas | Production of raw natural gas, separation of liquid hydrocarbons and desulphurisation of gas at the extraction site. This is the activity that requires the ANRE natural gas production licence. |
| 09.10 | Support activities for petroleum and natural gas extraction | Contract services for oil and gas fields: test drilling and directional drilling, rigging up, repairing and dismantling wells, cementing, pumping, and plugging and abandoning wells. |

- **Authorisation: Subsoil use permit** — Environment Agency, valid for Exploration: 5 years; extraction: up to 20 years. Any geological exploration of the subsoil and any extraction of minerals. A single permit may cover several activities. It is applied for through the one-stop shop and issued free of charge. For extraction, the term is the one in the technical design for extraction and land reclamation, up to 20 years, and it can be extended for periods of up to five years. Work must start within 12 months of issue.
- **Authorisation: Environmental consent** — Environment Agency, valid for 4 years. Quarries, open-pit and underground mining and commercial oil and gas extraction are on the list of activities that require an environmental impact assessment, with no threshold. The mine is designed only after the assessment. A national-level assessment, including the issue of the consent, costs 12,300 lei.
- **Authorisation: Environmental permit** — Environment Agency, valid for 6 years. Every class of mining and quarrying, from oil and gas to stone, sand, clay and peat, including support activities, is on the list of activities with low environmental risk, with no capacity threshold. It costs 20,000 lei.
- **Licence: Natural gas production licence** — National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), valid for 25 years. Extraction of natural gas from a natural deposit. Issued only to a legal entity. Production facilities may be built and operated only after the Government has granted the right to use the subsoil plot. With this licence the producer sells gas on the wholesale market; for the retail market it also needs a supply licence.

**Who buys it:** Extracted gas is sold on the wholesale market under the production licence, and to end consumers only with a supply licence. Well services companies work under contract for permit holders.

**What is different about the money:** The extraction tax is 150 lei per tonne of oil. Before industrial production, a deposit may be worked on a trial basis for up to three years or on a pilot-industrial basis for up to five, extracting no more than 5% of the reserves. A gas producer may not hold transmission, distribution or storage licences.

## Geological exploration and exploratory drilling: a permit without a tender, in 30 days

Geological exploration to find reserves is carried out under a subsoil use permit for exploration, valid for five years and applied for without a tender. The file contains an explanatory note, a topographic plan with the coordinates of the area and proof that you own the land or have the owners’ consent. The Environment Agency replies within 30 days. The work is registered with the state, and whoever explored at their own expense receives the deposit without a tender.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 09.90 | Support activities for other mining and quarrying | Contract services for stone, sand and clay quarries: sampling and geological observations at future workings, drilling and test boring, and draining and pumping water. Operating a quarry under contract stays in division 08. |
| 71.12 | Engineering activities and related technical consultancy | Geophysical and geological prospecting and seismic surveying carried out as engineering services, together with surveying and mapping. Test drilling for extraction falls under 09.10 and 09.90. |
| 43.13 | Test drilling and boring | Drilling, boring and core sampling for construction, including geological investigation of building sites. Water wells fall under 42.21. |

- **Authorisation: Subsoil use permit** — Environment Agency, valid for Exploration: 5 years; extraction: up to 20 years. Any geological exploration of the subsoil and any extraction of minerals. A single permit may cover several activities. It is applied for through the one-stop shop and issued free of charge. For extraction, the term is the one in the technical design for extraction and land reclamation, up to 20 years, and it can be extended for periods of up to five years. Work must start within 12 months of issue.
- **Authorisation: Environmental permit** — Environment Agency, valid for 6 years. Every class of mining and quarrying, from oil and gas to stone, sand, clay and peat, including support activities, is on the list of activities with low environmental risk, with no capacity threshold. It costs 20,000 lei.

**Who buys it:** Subsoil use permit holders, who are required to employ or contract certified specialists in geology, geodesy and surveying; investors looking for a new deposit; and construction companies, for site investigation boreholes.

**What is different about the money:** Geological information obtained at your own expense belongs to you, and no one else may use it commercially without your consent, even though you hand it over free of charge to the State Subsoil Information Fund. Geological study and exploration of deposits are on the list of fields important for state security, where acquiring control of a company requires prior approval from the Council for the Examination of Investments.

## How the sector got here

- **25 October 2024 — Law No. 67/2024 on the regime of explosives for civil use.** The law on explosives for civil use comes into force. Work with explosives, including in quarries, is carried out only by a legal entity licensed by the Public Services Agency, with at least one shotfirer on staff.
- **29 May 2026 — Subsoil Code No. 246/2024.** The new Subsoil Code replaces the 2009 code. The subsoil is used under a subsoil use permit, issued free of charge, and a deposit explored at the applicant’s expense is awarded without a tender. Existing holders keep their rights and receive the permit without a tender.
- **29 May 2026 — Law No. 53/2026.** The Environment Agency becomes the competent authority for the use and protection of the subsoil, replacing the Agency for Geology and Mineral Resources. The financial guarantee for environmental restoration takes the form of a bank guarantee, an insurance policy or a special account, and holders pay 0.25% of its value every year.
- **1 January 2027 — CAEM Rev. 2.1 classification.** The new classification comes into force. The mining and quarrying codes stay the same, but 08.92 is renamed peat extraction and 09.90 support activities for mining.

## How big the sector is

For 2025, 128 mining and quarrying companies filed financial statements, up from 121 a year earlier. They employ 1,755 people and had sales revenue of 1.8 billion lei. Almost all of them, 126, are in division 08, which covers stone, sand, gravel and clay quarries. The other two are support services companies, with no employees and no sales in 2025. The published data does not show oil, gas or metal ores separately.

Mining and quarrying output in 2025 was 1.6 billion lei, 1.7% of all industrial output. Almost all of it stays in the country: only 2.9% of deliveries were exported. Quarries produced 3.96 million tonnes of gravel and pebbles, 16% more than in 2024, 2.46 million tonnes of sand, 1.45 million tonnes of building and dimension stone, 30% more, and 174,000 tonnes of clay.

The average gross monthly wage in mining and quarrying in the fourth quarter of 2025 was 14,908 lei. In manufacturing it was 14,025 lei, and the average for the whole economy 16,355 lei.

## What paperwork is required

The subsoil and everything in it are the exclusive property of the state. Subsoil plots are not sold, only granted for use, and what you extract becomes yours under the subsoil use permit. The Environment Agency issues it free of charge through the one-stop shop, and a single permit can cover both exploration and extraction. Since 29 May 2026, the Environment Agency has been the competent authority for the subsoil, replacing the Agency for Geology and Mineral Resources.

Alongside the permit come the environmental documents and, where there is blasting, the safety documents. Every quarry goes through an environmental impact assessment and receives an environmental consent. Extraction then operates under an environmental permit, which is required for every class in mining and quarrying, with no capacity threshold. The financial guarantee for environmental restoration is put in place before the permit is issued. If explosives are used in the quarry, blasting needs a clearance from the National Inspectorate for Technical Supervision and a company licensed for explosives.

Only two activities need a licence in the strict sense: natural gas production, from ANRE, and work with explosives, from the Public Services Agency.

## The deposit: a tender or exploration at your own expense

Only a deposit whose reserves have been assessed, approved and entered in the State Geological Register may be worked. For sand, clay and building stone, which the code calls widespread minerals, the right is obtained through a public tender, organised by the Environment Agency under a procedure set by the Government. Tender notices and results are published in Monitorul Oficial and on the agency’s website. For a deposit put out to tender, the Environment Agency itself commissions the environmental impact assessment, through public procurement.

The tender does not apply when the geological exploration was paid for by the applicant. The route is then different: you apply for a geological exploration permit, without a tender and with the landowners’ consent, carry out the work and put the reserves through an assessment by the State Commission on Mineral Reserves. If the state explored the deposit with public money, the permit holder reimburses the state’s costs, indexed for inflation.

For minerals of national importance, whose list the Government approves, the right of use is transferred by a Government decision.

## The file for an extraction permit

The permit is obtained in two steps. First you submit the application, with information on financial resources, equipment and specialists, an explanatory note, the technical design for working the deposit, the environmental restoration plan and the decision on the environmental consent. Within 30 days the Environment Agency issues a decision to grant or refuse the permit.

After the decision you have 90 days to provide proof of the financial guarantee for environmental restoration, the landowner’s consent or your own title deed, and the decision changing the land’s designated use. The permit is issued within a further 30 days. Mine development of the deposit must start within the deadlines in the technical design, and no later than 12 months after the permit is issued. You must notify the town hall 10 working days before work begins.

The technical design is prepared by a design organisation with certified designers, only after the environmental impact assessment, and is agreed with the Environment Agency within 30 days at most. The mine design is also checked as required by the industrial safety law and the Urban Planning and Construction Code. How notifications to the National Inspectorate for Technical Supervision work for concrete and building materials producers is explained on the [industrial manufacturing](/en/industries/industrial-manufacturing-metal-equipment) page.

## The financial guarantee and land restoration

The guarantee covers restoring the environment after extraction. The cost of the work is calculated in the technical design, in proportion to the area affected and the volume extracted, updated every year for inflation and agreed with the Environment Agency. The guarantee is put in place for the first year when the permit is issued and updated in the last month of each year, as a bank guarantee, an insurance policy or a special account. Since 29 May 2026, the holder also pays 0.25% of the guarantee’s value every year into an account opened by the Environment Agency, which funds the restoration of land left unrestored.

The fertile topsoil is stripped and stored in full for reclamation. When extraction ends, the excavations are closed or preserved at the holder’s expense, under a design agreed with the Environment Agency, and the land is reclaimed. Workings that keep the extraction running, such as excavations, wells and mine survey markers, are state property. Inert waste and unpolluted soil from quarries do not need the separate permit for extractive waste facilities.

## The mineral extraction tax

The Tax Code levies a tax on the volume extracted, with a rate for each type of mineral. For sand and gravel, building stone and limestone for lime, the rate is between 12 and 15 lei per m³. Clay for bricks and tiles is taxed at 15 lei per m³, clay for ceramics at 18 lei, limestone cut into wall blocks at 21 lei and natural facing stone at 48 lei per m³. Gypsum and bentonite clay are taxed at 21 lei per tonne, and oil at 150 lei per tonne.

The company calculates the tax itself for each half-year, from the volume extracted and the applicable rate, excluding losses in the extraction process and in the safety pillars provided for in the design. The return is filed electronically with the State Tax Service, and the tax is paid by the 25th of the month after the half-year: half to the local budget, half to the state budget. Failing to pay the subsoil use taxes for two tax periods can lead to the permit being withdrawn.

## What comes after the quarry opens

The holder extracts only within the boundaries of the plot and in line with the approved design. It draws up annual mine development plans, agreed with the Environment Agency, keeps geological and mine survey records and reports every year on changes in reserves. It employs or contracts certified specialists in geology, geodesy and surveying. It informs the agency within 10 days of any inspection by other authorities. Mining supervision and geological control are carried out by the Environmental Protection Inspectorate.

The permit cannot be sold. The rights under it pass to another legal entity only with the agency’s approval, and only when the holder changes its legal form or name, merges or splits. The permit is suspended for up to 12 months if the holder fails to carry out the inspectorate’s order within 90 days, departs from the design or does not maintain the financial guarantee. It is withdrawn, among other reasons, if the plot stays unused for more than 60 consecutive days without the agency’s consent.

## Explosives in the quarry

Work with explosives is carried out only by a legal entity licensed by the Public Services Agency, with compliant storage facilities and at least one shotfirer on staff. The licence has no expiry and costs 3,250 lei. Blasting also needs a clearance from the National Inspectorate for Technical Supervision, issued free of charge within three days: valid for three days for a single blast or 36 months for multiple blasts. The file contains the blasting contract, a topographic plan with the danger zones and the order appointing the person in charge. Every 12 months the holder resubmits the documents, and without them the clearance ceases to have effect. Blasting must also be agreed with the town hall. The explosives licence and the rules for storage facilities are explained on the [industrial manufacturing](/en/industries/industrial-manufacturing-metal-equipment) page.

## Oil and natural gas

Prospecting, exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons are permitted only in geographical areas designated and made public by the Ministry of Environment. The Environment Agency announces the tender in Monitorul Oficial, with the area, the submission deadline and the required legal form, and holds it 90 days later. The winner’s file contains the feasibility study, the technical design, the environmental restoration plan, the environmental consent and the concession contract. The agency submits the proposal to the Government within 30 days, and the Government decides.

For gas, once the plot has been granted, the building permits and the production licence from ANRE follow. How gas suppliers and traders work is explained on the [energy company](/en/industries/energy-company) page. Groundwater also falls under the Subsoil Code, and the rules for wells and bottling are on the [water and sewerage](/en/industries/water-and-sewerage) page.

## Which legal form to choose

For a quarry, the usual form is the SRL, which pays 12% income tax and whose liability is limited to the company’s own assets. The Subsoil Code gives foreign persons the same rights as Moldovan ones, and the gas production licence and the explosives licence are issued only to a legal entity. If you sell stone, sand or gravel to construction companies, the [construction company](/en/industries/construction-company) page shows what documents your buyers hold.

We choose the CAEM codes, draft the articles of association, file the application with the Public Services Agency and open the bank account. We prepare the applications for the subsoil use permit, the environmental consent and the environmental permit. For a foreign company, we register its company in Moldova. We can take over the accounting, including the half-yearly extraction tax returns, from the first month. What each service includes is on the [corporate services](/en/corporate-services) page.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do you need a licence to open a quarry in Moldova?

No. A quarry operates under the subsoil use permit from the Environment Agency, which is free of charge. It is preceded by the environmental consent, the technical design for extraction and the environmental restoration plan. After the decision to issue the permit, you have 90 days to provide the financial guarantee, the landowner’s consent and the decision changing the land’s designated use. A licence is required only for natural gas production and for work with explosives.

### What is the financial guarantee for environmental restoration?

The amount that covers restoring the land after extraction, calculated in the technical design from the area affected and the volume extracted. It is put in place when the permit is issued, for the first year, and updated every year for inflation, as a bank guarantee, an insurance policy or a special account. Since 29 May 2026, the holder also pays 0.25% of its value every year into an account opened by the Environment Agency.

### Can you extract sand or clay from your own land without a permit?

No. The subsoil and the minerals in it are public property, even if the land above belongs to you, and using the subsoil without a permit is prohibited. The exception in the code covers extraction down to five metres for building and repairing public roads, railways and dykes, under a construction design agreed with the Environment Agency, with an environmental impact assessment and the landowner’s consent.

### Can you sell a subsoil use permit?

Not to just anyone. The rights under the permit pass to another legal entity only with the Environment Agency’s approval, and only when the holder changes its legal form or name, merges or splits. The permit is withdrawn, among other reasons, if you leave the plot unused for more than 60 consecutive days without the agency’s consent or fail to pay the subsoil use taxes for two tax periods.

### Can a foreign company extract oil or gas in Moldova?

The Subsoil Code gives foreign persons the same rights as Moldovan companies. For hydrocarbons, however, the Environment Agency refuses the permit when an applicant influenced by the interests of other states threatens national security. The ANRE gas production licence is issued only to a legal entity, and geological study and exploration of deposits are fields where investments go through the Council for the Examination of Investments.

### How do you obtain a deposit without a tender?

By exploring it at your own expense. You apply for a geological exploration permit, without a tender and with the landowners’ consent, carry out the work, and the reserves go through an assessment by the State Commission on Mineral Reserves and are entered in the State Geological Register. The Subsoil Code exempts a deposit explored at the applicant’s expense from the tender. The applicant pays for the assessment under a contract.

Choosing the CAEM codes, drafting the constitutive documents and filing with the Public Services Agency are part of the registration service.