Coal companies build up shipments to the North-West ports due to the limited capacity of the Eastern Polygon
The Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation has supported the initiative of Sergey Tsivilev, Governor of the Kemerovo Region, to introduce a moratorium on rate increases for coal transport by rail and on tax legislation in the coal industry in 2023-2024. That was announced by Deputy Energy Minister Sergey Mochalnikov at a meeting of the State Council Energy and Transport Commissions which discussed the issue of tariffs for railway transportation of coal, according to the Ministry’s press center.
“When forming indicators, it is important to take into account all goods going through the Eastern Polygon, not just coal products. This will ensure transparency and predictability, both for consignors and executive authorities in formation of the regional budget revenues. We support Sergey Tsivilev's initiative to introduce a moratorium for 2023-2024 on changes in transport tariffs and tax legislation in the industry,” said Sergey Mochalnikov.
Coal companies should first of all be able to forecast shipments in order to conclude and execute long-term contracts. According to the Deputy Minister, coal companies build up shipments to the North-West ports due to the limited capacity of the Eastern Polygon and the approaches to the Azov-Black Sea basin. He emphasized the need to increase the capacity of the Eastern Polygon.
According to the transcript of the meeting of the State Council Energy and Transport Commissions published on the Kremlin website, Sergey Tsivilev proposed expediting the construction of the Eastern Operating Domain facilities that have the greatest impact on traffic capacity, while introducing a moratorium on rate increases for coal transport by rail.
In 2022, Russian Railways decreased loading of coal by 4.6%, year-on-year, to 354.4 million tonnes; in January 2023 – by 4.3% to 30.4 million tonnes.