Despite the number of state support measures adopted for coal enterprises, the many statements made, and memorandums signed, little has changed in practice. Why is this so? There are many opinions. One of them was expressed to Vedomosti on October 14, 2025, by Sergey Rumyantsev, Director General of JSC “Institute for Transport Economics and Development” (IEDT).

Against the backdrop of widespread calls to reduce rail tariffs for coal transportation, the expert stated that coal transport tariffs are in fact artificially understated, while the resulting shortfall is compensated by tariffs for other shippers—those transporting high value-added products such as metals, chemicals, and petroleum products.

His figures are as follows: in 2024, losses from coal transportation amounted to RUB 127.3 billion for Russian Railways, and in the first six months of 2025 they had already reached RUB 62 billion. His conclusion: “In essence, we are dealing with a situation where one industry forces another to operate at a loss.” His proposal is to move from a struggle over the redistribution of losses to a policy of creating new value.

What does this mean? In answering this question, Sergey Rumyantsev referred to China’s experience, where 150–170 million tonnes of coal per year are not burned for energy but are instead directed to deep processing for the production of polymers and other products.

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