Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the government an Oct. 31 deadline to review a mineral extraction tax for the Russian coal industry, Reuters reported Aug. 24, citing instructions published by the Kremlin.
However, it was unclear if the assessment will lead to changes of current tax levels for coal miners.
The announcement comes after Putin's recent meeting with heads of Russian coal-producing regions, during which the energy ministry noted that it expects the country's annual coal output to increase from its current annual output of 440 million tonnes to between 550 million and 670 million tonnes by 2035.
Putin directed the energy ministry to formulate measures that will allow advanced processing in coal mining regions, particularly for the potential development of liquefied gas and hydrogen production from coal.
Putin also ordered the government to make sure that Russian coal export plans are in line with the Federal Security Service's plans to develop border control checkpoints as well as vehicle and railway access to them by Feb. 1, 2020.
