Illegal mining is a serious violation that infringes upon the state's exclusive ownership rights to the subsoil.

In the Republic of Belarus, responsibility for such actions is regulated by the norms of the Subsoil Code, the Code of Administrative Offenses, as well as environmental legislation, which provides for severe sanctions, up to criminal liability. According to Article 5 of the Subsoil Code of the Republic of Belarus, subsoil is the exclusive property of the state. The state exercises its rights of ownership, use, and disposal of subsoil through authorized state bodies and organizations. Subsoil and the right to use it cannot be the subject of sale, purchase, gift, inheritance, pledge, or alienation in any other form. This means that any actions related to the extraction of mineral resources without the appropriate permission from state bodies are considered illegal and violate the right of state ownership. For unauthorized extraction, administrative liability is provided for in accordance with Article 16.36 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus, which entails a fine: * for individuals – up to 30 base units; * for individual entrepreneurs – up to 100 base units; * for legal entities – up to 300 base units. In cases where illegal extraction is associated with large-scale operations, corruption, or significant damage, criminal liability is incurred. In addition to the fine, the offender is obliged to compensate for the damage caused to the environment. The calculation is based on the volume of extracted material: For 1 cubic meter of sand – 3 base units. For 1 ton – 1.8 base units.