Siberian Coal Mine Shutdown Leaves Hundreds of Workers Financially Stranded Amid Industry Crisis

One of the largest coal mines in Siberia’s Kemerovo region has halted its operations due to significant financial difficulties, resulting in hundreds of employees not receiving their wages and underscoring the increasing instability in Russia’s coal-producing heartland.

Interfax reported on Monday that the Spiridonovskaya mine, which had a workforce of around 900 individuals, ceased production in early June because of insufficient funding, as stated by the Kemerovo region’s coal industry ministry.

The ministry informed Interfax that outstanding payments for salaries, vacation, and severance have accumulated to approximately 90 million rubles (roughly $1.17 million).

At the end of May, mine management revealed plans to dismiss 760 workers, attributing this action to a severe lack of investment. By late June, about 120 employees had chosen to leave their positions voluntarily.

Currently, around 130 staff members remain at the site to manage critical mine operations, which had produced about 214,000 metric tons of coal earlier this year before the suspension of activities.

Andrei Panov, the First Deputy Governor and head of the Kemerovo regional government, acknowledged on Friday that employees at Spiridonovskaya had not received their salaries for over a month.

He had previously indicated that 20 out of the 151 coal companies in the region were on the verge of bankruptcy.

«During this challenging period, coal miners are compelled to adopt various survival strategies—reducing expenses, increasing productivity, and in some instances, placing employees on unpaid leave or outright layoffs,» Panov remarked.

Although Spiridonovskaya recorded revenues of 1.5 billion rubles ($19.5 million) in 2023, it still faced a net loss of 422 million rubles ($5.5 million).

In 2024, losses surged to 1.8 billion rubles ($23.4 million), even as revenues increased to 2.2 billion rubles ($28.6 million).

The closure of Spiridonovskaya is occurring amid a wider downturn in the coal industry across the region.

In 2024, eight mines in the Kuzbass area shut down, with nearly 500 workers going without pay for several months, as reported by Kemerovo Governor Ilya Seredyuk in February.

The workforce at numerous other mines has also seen reductions.

For example, around 250 employees were laid off at the Inskaya mine alone, according to statements from regional Coal Minister Oleg Tokarev in January.

The Kemerovo region, also known as Kuzbass, is Russia’s primary coal-producing area, contributing nearly 60% of the nation’s total hard coal output, 80% of coking coal, and 100% of the highest quality grades, according to official statistics.

The coal sector in this region employs over 110,000 individuals, making up more than 70% of the entire Russian coal workforce.