Alexander Titov, senior expert at the Energy Department of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Mashnews Internet portal on the state support program for the coal industry.
The program includes the allocation of budget funds for 113 billion rubles and extra-budgetary support in the amount of 65 billion rubles. The budget is going to subsidize the key rate for investments, tax deduction and various deferred payments.
Do coal miners need budget support
The coal industry earned 750 billion rubles in profit in 2021 and 820 billion rubles in 2022. The surplus amounted to 821 billion, and in 2021, 370 billion more were added to this figure. And only in 2024, losses began - 113 billion for the year, which is almost 10 times less than the profits received in previous years. The question arises: why does the industry need support?
"Yes, it got worse, the market conditions are bad, exports are unprofitable and all that. But use the money that you have accumulated in the past years, when you had very large profits. Is it necessary the budget compensation? It's difficult to assess, but I think it's unlikely that it will change anything much in the industry," Alexander Titov believes.
"In order to support coal miners, there must be a hot, dry summer and low hydroelectric power generation. And then coal-fired thermal power plants in China, India, and Southeast Asia will be well loaded. If there is a demand for coal, the price will go up. In other cases, I don't see any reason for coal prices to rise in 2025," the expert notes.
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