OREANDA-NEWS  By the end of 2025, if the current negative trends are not reversed, the losses of coal companies in Russia may collectively reach 300-350 billion rubles, which is comparable to the annual budget of large regions, for example, the Rostov region. Dmitry Lopatin, Deputy Director of the Department of the Ministry of Energy, told about this at a meeting of the Council for the Development of Siberia in the Federation Council, Interfax reports.

Last year, the net loss of industry representatives amounted to 112.6 billion rubles, this year this figure was reached in the first five months.

The official stressed that the situation is getting worse every month, with significant over-crediting of coal miners becoming an increasingly serious problem. By the beginning of the second half of the year, the total debt reached 1.2 trillion rubles, and in six months it could grow to 1.4 trillion.

Prior to that, the Ministry of Coal Industry of Kuzbass, the main coal region of the country, announced the shutdown of production at the large Spiridonovskaya mine, where about 900 people worked. At the end of May, the company's management laid off 760 employees, and by the end of June, 120 more people had left. The main reason for such actions was the lack of funding. Salary, vacation and settlement payments arrears amount to about 90 million rubles.