The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has forwarded documents to the Russian government on the allocation of four more licenses for Arctic shelf development to Rosneft and Gazprom, Minister Sergei Donskoi told RIA Novosti.

"The documents have been sent to the government," he said.

Earlier this year, the Ministry proposed suspending the issuance of shelf development licenses to state-owned companies until a decision was taken to lift restrictions for private companies.

"The proposal has been considered, but we continue to issue licenses in accordance with legislation. No decision has been made on this issue so far,  so we are proceeding as before. Under the current law, licenses for shelf development can be issued without a tender," Sergei Donskoi said.