A Russian energy firm has filed a formal inquiry with the Prosecutor General’s Office, seeking an audit of officials in the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Economic Development and Industry in Irkutsk Region. The request centers on how coal export quotas are set and allocated. The note of the inquiry appeared in a business publication, which reported on the move and its context.
The company argues that the rules governing coal export restrictions from Irkutsk to eastern markets are not applied in a uniform way. A copy of the same letter was sent to the Federal Antimonopoly Service as part of an effort to scrutinize the quota allocation process.
From the letter authored by Evgeniy Masternak, the general director of Vostsibugol, the publication notes that coal exports from the Irkutsk region rose between 2016 and 2022, yet Vostsibugol’s share in the overall supply declined each year. The correspondence highlights a mismatch between rising regional shipments and the company’s shrinking portion of the total, even as regional exports expanded significantly.
Between 2016 and 2022, the total volume of coal leaving Irkutsk grew by about 2.3 times, reaching 3.28 million tons. Over the same period, Vostsibugol’s quota rose only modestly, by around 3.8 percent, from 943,700 tons to 979,800 tons. The distribution also points to a single open-pit operation owned by Cheremkhovougol as a major factor in regional supply. Consequently, Vostsibugol’s share of regional exports fell from 66.6 percent to 29.8 percent, while smaller private companies captured a larger slice of foreign sales growth.
The letter notes that Masternak reached out several times to the regional government, the national energy ministry, and Russian Railways with requests to raise export quotas to a range of 2 to 2.4 million tons per year for 2023, but those appeals did not receive backing.
Masternak contends that the Irkutsk regional energy ministry uses a quota distribution system that is transparent in appearance yet unfair in effect. He argues that quotas should reflect a company’s share of total fuel production and shipment in the region, its social obligations and investment activity, and its contribution to the Angara region’s development. The claim is that the current method overlooks these factors and relies on a formula that does not account for the full scale of production or the domestic market’s low-margin supply.
In 2023, Masternak estimates that Vostsibugol faced losses amounting to several billions of rubles from not meeting the planned export shipments. The financial impact underscores the broader consequences for employee compensation and social commitments in the region.
Despite the financial pressures, the company’s leadership stressed that coal exports are essential for fulfilling obligations to its workforce. A reduction in export earnings is described as directly affecting the region’s ability to fund social support programs.
Earlier reports noted that workers at Razrez Cheremkhovugol, located in the single-industry city of Cheremkhovo, considered contacting the president of Russia to express concerns. They argued that both the mine and the broader city rely on export volumes to sustain livelihoods and community well-being.