The governor of Kuzbass Aman Tuleyev wants to limit granting of coal licenses in the region and decrease output to 200 million tons. Officially, to decrease damages to the environment.
This year 5 auctions for coal development have been cancelled. The existing mines provide enough coal.
Over 100 coal companies operate in the region, including those of large holdings. The region mines 70% of Russian coal.
In 2017 Kuzbass is expected to mine 240 million tons of coal, up by 5.5% YoY.
“Russia will get 80 million tons. The rest will go to South-Eastern Asia, Korea, India and China. Thus, we’re working mostly for exports, and destroying our environment. All we get is smoke and gas”, Tuleyev noted. (Ukrainian metal)