Irina Magnushevskaya, Head of the Institute for Transport Economics and Development (IEDT), shared with RBC  her expert insights on coal exports and the inevitable financial losses faced by Russian Railways (RZD) under current price levels — even with state support and preferential tariffs.

Below are some of the key points. According to the Ministry of Energy, among all coal-producing regions facing challenges, the Republic of Khakassia and the Kuzbass region are in the most critical condition. For example, in 2025, RZD is fully meeting its agreement obligations for Kuzbass, having transported 14.8 million tonnes of coal eastward in the first quarter alone. However, within the same period, meeting the eastern coal export quotas has already limited RZD’s ability to transport around 3 million tonnes of non-coal freight. If a decision is made to guarantee coal shipments from Khakassia at the 2024 level (6.5 million tonnes), RZD would face additional revenue losses of about 1 billion rubles. These losses would result from the reduction in transportation of higher value-added goods — primarily containers.

The full article is available on the Gudok newspaper website.