Countries that abandoned Russian coal upset the balance, Novak said

MOSCOW, 10 Oct — PRIME. Countries that have abandoned Russian coal are looking for new suppliers, upsetting the existing balance, which leads to financial costs and chaos in the market, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in his author’s article in the Energy Policy magazine.

According to the Federal Customs Service cited by Novak, Russia exported 46.8 million tons of thermal coal and 3.6 million tons of coking coal to Europe in 2021, which is approximately 35% of total European imports. Over the past 10 years, this share has grown markedly, that is, the Deputy Prime Minister stressed, declaring a decrease in dependence on Russian energy resources, the countries of Europe actually only increased it.

“Therefore, today consumers both in the EU and in other countries are forced to urgently look for new coal suppliers, upsetting the existing balance and breaking sustainable supply chains, which leads to additional financial costs for transportation, increased demand, chaos in the market and rising prices,” – Novak noted in the article “Coal industry of the XXI century: decline or renaissance.”

A complete ban on the supply of Russian coal to the EU has been in effect since August 2022. In addition, from August 10, the European Union banned European companies from providing insurance and other financial services for the supply of Russian coal not only to the EU countries, but throughout the world.