One of the largest coal mines in Kemerovo region of Siberia has halted its operations due to significant financial difficulties, leaving hundreds of employees without wages and underscoring the increasing instability in Russia’s coal-producing area.
The Spiridonovskaya mine, which had a workforce of around 900, ceased production at the beginning of June because of insufficient funding, as reported by Interfax on Monday, with information from the region’s coal industry ministry.
The total arrears for wages, holiday pay, and severance now amount to approximately 90 million rubles (around $1.17 million), the ministry informed Interfax.
In late May, mine management announced the termination of 760 employees, citing an acute lack of investment. By the end of June, roughly 120 more workers chose to resign voluntarily.
Currently, about 130 employees remain on-site to ensure the maintenance of critical systems at the mine, which produced around 214,000 metric tons of coal earlier this year before stopping operations.
First Deputy Governor Andrei Panov, who leads the Kemerovo regional government, admitted on Friday that the workers at Spiridonovskaya had not received pay for over a month.
Previously, he indicated that 20 out of the region’s 151 coal companies were nearing bankruptcy.
“In the current crisis, coal miners are compelled to do whatever it takes to survive—reducing expenses, increasing output, and in some instances, putting employees on unpaid leave or terminating their employment entirely,” Panov stated.
In 2023, Spiridonovskaya reported revenues of 1.5 billion rubles ($19.5 million), but it still faced a net loss of 422 million rubles ($5.5 million).
In 2024, losses escalated fourfold to 1.8 billion rubles ($23.4 million), despite an increase in revenues to 2.2 billion rubles ($28.6 million).
The closure of Spiridonovskaya is part of a larger decline affecting the coal industry in the region.
In 2024, eight mines within the Kuzbass area shut down, leading to nearly 500 workers going unpaid for several months, as reported by Kemerovo Governor Ilya Seredyuk in February.
Moreover, the workforce at several other mining sites has been diminished.
At the Inskaya mine alone, around 250 employees were laid off, as stated by regional Coal Minister Oleg Tokarev in January.
The Kemerovo region, also known as Kuzbass, is the leading coal-producing area in Russia, contributing nearly 60% of the country’s total hard coal production, 80% of coking coal, and 100% of the most valuable coal grades, according to official records.
The coal sector within the region employs over 110,000 individuals, amounting to more than 70% of the entire Russian coal workforce.
