Novak noted the high degree of stability of the Russian coal industry

MOSCOW, 10 Oct — PRIME. The Russian coal industry, despite the sanctions of unfriendly countries, demonstrates a high degree of stability, said Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

“In recent months, the Russian coal industry, along with other sectors of the economy, has faced unprecedented restrictions from unfriendly countries. This applies to both the embargo on the import of Russian coal and the export of technologies for the coal industry. But, despite external pressure, the industry demonstrates a high degree of resilience “, – he wrote in the author’s column for the journal “Energy Policy”.

According to him, coal exports from Russia in January-July decreased by 8.6%, while demand in the domestic market grew by 6.8%. Coal production in Russia for the first seven months of this year decreased by 0.9%.

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.

According to the vice-premier, the government of the Russian Federation is considering the possibility of preferential financing for coal miners for the purchase of Russian equipment at 3-5% for 5 years.

“The possibility of creating a program of preferential financing for the purchase of Russian equipment for coal industry enterprises at a rate of 3-5% per annum for 5 years is being considered, similar to how it is done for machine-building enterprises financed by the Industrial Development Fund,” Novak wrote.

He recalled that a fairly wide range of instruments aimed at ensuring the development of industry, including mining engineering, are already in place. In particular, opportunities are being created to obtain preferential debt financing for the production or purchase of critical components, spare parts, materials, the production of which in Russia is limited or absent. The amount of such a loan can range from 10 to 500 million rubles for a period of up to 3 years at 5% per annum. At the same time, co-financing is not required, the vice-premier noted.

Novak also noted that in the near future it is necessary to solve the complex logistical problem of ensuring supplies from abroad of that segment of equipment, analogues of which are not produced in Russia and the production of which cannot be organized in the near future.

New deposits in Yakutia and the Taimyr Peninsula, as well as a shift in production to the east, will help boost the competitiveness of Russian coal companies, said Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

In his column for Energy Policy magazine, he wrote that today one of the priority tasks in the coal industry is to create conditions for companies to increase their competitiveness in any market conditions.

“In this regard, it is planned to shift the centers of coal mining to the east of the country while maximizing and effectively using the potential of Russia’s leading basins – Kuzbass, Gorlovsky and Kansk-Achinsk,” he explained.

In addition, according to Novak, the development of new deposits of “coking coal in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), anthracites and coking coal on the Taimyr Peninsula in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation” is also being considered.