Coal under guardianship

The state will take a close look at the industry

After the accident at the Raspadskaya mine, the state intends to strengthen comprehensive control over the mining and metallurgical industry. Yesterday, at a meeting of the government presidium, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin proposed creating a working group under the government that would deal with the problems of the coal industry. The main attention is planned to be paid to the development of new coal deposits, regulatory regulation and logistics, licensing of coal deposits, as well as safety issues, in particular the introduction of systems for monitoring the location of miners at mines. “The appropriate technologies exist. This will make it possible by the end of the year to determine with an accuracy of two meters which miner is located where in the face,” Mr. Sechin said. In the meantime, he noted that the minimum salary limit for miners at the Raspadskaya mine, where an accident occurred on the night of May 9 that claimed dozens of lives, will be increased from 28-30 to 40 thousand rubles.

Igor Sechin also recalled that the Ministry of Transport was instructed to study the issue of developing coal terminals in the Far East and the Black Sea coast to expand exports. “To create conditions for increasing the export of coal products in conditions of meeting the needs of the coal market, the Ministry of Transport of Russia and the responsible federal bodies have been instructed to work on the issue of developing coal terminals in export directions both in the Far East, in the north-west, and on the Black Sea coast,” said Deputy Prime Minister According to him, the issue of creating a new generation of thermal power plants based on “clean coal” technology should also be considered.

At the end of last week, Mr. Sechin held a meeting in Neryungri on the development of the coal industry. He did not promise money as support, but spoke about developing a strategy for the sectoral development of the industry. “By the end of the year, under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy, it is planned to develop a strategy for the coal industry,” one of the meeting participants, the head of the SUEK coal company Vladimir Rashevsky, confirmed this information to journalists, noting that it is too early to talk about the validity period of the document. At the same time, he added that “it makes no sense to develop a strategic document at the state level for a period of less than ten years.” As you know, in Neryungri, Mr. Sechin carried out the instructions of the Prime Minister, which he gave following a meeting with miners in Novokuznetsk on June 24. Then Mr. Putin announced the preparation of legislative innovations, according to which it would be more profitable for mine owners to spend money on safety rather than pay considerable sums in the event of an emergency.

The accident at the Raspadskaya mine, as is known, created a shortage of coal on the domestic market. But yesterday, Mr. Sechin said that the Elginskoye field in Yakutia, which will be launched in November (developed by the Mechel group), will reduce the shortage of coking coal caused by the cessation of production at Raspadskaya. It was previously reported that due to the accident at Raspadskaya, the Russian market may lose about 1.8 million tons of concentrate, or 2.3 million raw GZh grade coal, by the end of the year. As Mr. Sechin reported, the reserves at the Elga deposit amount to 2.1 billion tons of coking thermal coal. According to the company's plans, about 1 million tons of coal can be produced at Elga in 2011, and by 2013 production can reach a level of about 9 million tons per year.

As it became known yesterday, Mechel began supplying coal to Russia from its US enterprise Mechel Bluestone due to the current shortage of high-grade coking coal concentrates on the market. As the company notes, it is planned to organize supplies of coal from America on a regular basis both for its own needs and for sale on the free market. Currently, Mechel Bluestone has adjusted its production plan and increased the production of coal that can replace scarce grades.

Irina TSYRULEVA