Mikhail Mishustin: “This sector has fundamental importance since it ensures stability across key sectors of the economy, including the metals industry, the energy and power generation sectors, as well as the housing and utilities. It also contributes to delivering on our social commitments.”
Mikhail Mishustin chairs a meeting on the coal industry
Mikhail Mishustin chairs a meeting on the coal industry
Mikhail Mishustin chairs a meeting on the coal industry
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks:
Good afternoon, colleagues.
Today, we will discuss the situation in the coal industry. This sector has fundamental importance since it ensures stability across key sectors of the economy, including the metals industry, the energy and power generation sectors, as well as the housing and utilities. It also contributes to delivering on our social commitments
Russia is the world’s top three exporter in this sector. This, in turn, serves as an incentive for developing transport infrastructure with a primary focus on railroads. China, India, Turkiye and Korea, as well as Southeast Asian and African countries are our key export markets in this sector.
The Government has launched several measures to support this sector, just as the President has instructed us. In particular, Russian Railways signed an agreement with the Kemerovo Region to guarantee that a substantial share of the coal that is made there is sent eastwards. There was also an effort to increase the share of innovative train cars. We have reduced tariffs for train car operators and for transshipment operations at ports. There is also an end-to-end shipment solution which helped reduce the time it takes to deliver coal from Kuzbass to our southern ports by almost one half. This has substantially lowered the costs companies incur.
The Government has used the federal budget to finance restructuring efforts in the coal sector. These funds went towards enabling people to relocate, as well as offering social support to those who lost their jobs when companies were liquidated. Some of the funding was used to co-finance retirement pensions, technology-related initiatives, and other objectives.
There is a programme underway to further improve working conditions, making mining operations safer, preventing accidents and injuries.
This goes hand in hand with efforts to develop the corresponding infrastructure. The Pacific Railway has been launched, and construction of Elga and Lavna ports is underway. We are creating coal mining centres in Russia’s eastern regions with their favourable mining and geological conditions for developing coal deposits. They are also closer to the main export markets.
There has been an active push to introduce new technology and cutting-edge equipment. This has made our mining operations even more effective and productive. About 1.5 million people worked in this sector back in the Soviet era, but as of the end of 2024 it employed just over 150,000 people. However, coal production has increased by about a dozen and a half million tonnes compared to the last years of the USSR’s existence.
The coal industry has a lot of potential and room for innovative development. This much is obvious. Companies are introducing 3D modelling solutions, fine-tuning their mining equipment and coal extraction methods, including for low seam coal extraction.
The sector has been facing new serious challenges in recent years. There was a sharp decrease in the global prices of all kinds of fuel of this kind. Unfortunately, in 2025 the situation has continued to deteriorate. In the first four months of the year, export prices declined by almost a quarter. The fact that companies have a big debt burden makes the whole situation even more complicated. They must spend considerable funds to stay in the business, ensure industrial security, offer safe working conditions and protect the environment.
The Government has devised a series of initiatives to address this situation. We must help entities that have potential but have been going through a rough patch.
As agreed with the President, I issued instructions to this effect for Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev, as well as Russian Railways CEO Oleg Belozerov. They visited the Kemerovo Region to discuss with its senior officials and coal companies the key topics. They presented several proposals. We will now review them in every detail so that we can report back to the President.
We expect this to pave the way for the necessary decisions in order to ensure that this sector recovers its balanced footing.
