Reuters reported that Mr Vladimir Putin Russian Prime Minister standing for election in a March presidential poll pledged USD 8 billion in development aid for the coal industry during a visit to a major mining region, a hotbed of political protest in the past.
He said Russia will spend RUB 252 billion on coal industry development by 2030 as part of an overall RUB 3.7 trillion investment program that will be driven by the private sector. He added that "The overall development of the economy, honorable colleagues and the increased effectiveness of the coal sector allows us to draw up such large scale plans."
The Kuznetsk Basin is Russia largest coal producing region, mining 192 million tonnes in 2011 or 57% of Russia total output of 336 million tonnes. Its miners played an instrumental role in the fall of the Soviet Union two decades ago when then-upstart politician Mr Boris Yeltsin aligned himself with their long running protests over wages and conditions to oppose Mr Mikhail Gorbachev platform.
Tensions flared in the region as recently as May 2010 after more than 60 miners died in a series of methane gas explosions at coking coal miner Raspadskaya main mine.
Riot police were deployed that month in the city of Mezhdurechensk, where the mine is located, to quell several days of protest by miners and their families. Mr Putin also paid a quick visit to the region which is tightly controlled by long serving governor and United Russia member Mr Aman Tuleyev.
During Tuesday trip the prime minister, in power since 2000 and favored to win a six-year presidential term in the March 4 election, met with local officials and executives in Kemerovo, the Kuzbass administrative centre, as part of a three-day trip to Siberia and other provinces.
He also met with relatives of the deceased from the 2010 accident and pledged to spend about RUB 500 million in federal research and development funds on mine safety this year.
He said that "The funds will be spent on the development and introduction of modern mine-rescue and individual protection equipment."
According to Russian industry consultancy Rosinformugol Russian coal mines are among the world most dangerous with a 2011 fatality rate of 0.15 for every million tonne mined. It said by comparison, Ukraine has about 1.0 fatality per million tonne while Australia has just 0.006 deaths.
(Sourced from Reuters)
