Andrei Vaulin: “the prestige of the coal industry revives”

General director of Krasnoyarskkrayugol (included in the group of companies Russian Coal) Andrew Vaulin has told about the situation in the coal industry, its development prospects and plans of Krasnoyarsk coal miners.

How, in your opinion, can the development of the gas infrastructure in Siberia affect the prospects for coal mining prospects in the Krasnoyarsk region?

I believe that the coal generation has long-term and stable prospects in the Krasnoyarsk region. In my opinion, in the near future the gas supply projects will not have a strong influence on the fuel and energy sector of the region. Now a significant number of local thermal and state district power stations are equipped and fueled by coal. Their modernization and switching to gas will require large investments.

In addition, you must consider the logistics. In contrast to the gas fields, coal mines are located near the thermal and state district power stations. Also a lot of average performance boilers are coal-fired. At the present time, everyone tries to cut costs, to find the most cost-effective solutions. And the development of the gas supplying infrastructure is a costly project, not only at the implementation phase, but also in operation.