The tenant of the LNR mines will start exporting coal through Mariupol

Donskiye Ugli Trading House LLC plans to start shipping coal for export through the port of Mariupol in October, first Deputy chairman of the DPR government Andrey Chertkov said at the session of the Russian Energy Week Forum (REN-2024). Oleg Knyazev, the company's CEO, added that he is negotiating with potential buyers from China, India, Iran, Uzbekistan and Malaysia.

An interlocutor familiar with the company's plans told RBC that it is working on various export options, in particular through the ports of Taganrog and Rostov-on-Don, as well as by rail through Azerbaijan and Iran. There are no plans to export products through the Eastern Landfill and the Far Eastern ports of Donskiye Ugli due to potential competition with coal miners in Siberia. The company also expects to establish supplies to the Rostov region and other regions of southern Russia.

How the Rostov company got control of the LPR mines

LLC Trading House "Donskiye Ugli" was established in July 2020 in Rostov-on-Don. Since April 4, 2024, the company has been wholly owned by Nikolai Kazakov. In 2020-2023, shares in the LLC were owned by Vitaly Donchenko and Alexander Maslyuk, against whom Ukrainian sanctions were imposed in early 2021. In February 2024, the Ministry of Fuel, Energy and Coal Industry of the LPR transferred to the company the lease of five coal mines in the republic: Samsonovskaya-Zapadnaya, Dolzhanskaya-Kapitalnaya, Komsomolskaya, Vakhrushev and Frunze. In July, the regional authorities handed over five more mines to the company: "Molodogvardeyskaya", "Krasny Partizan", "Kharkov", "Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya", named after Barakov. The assets of the Nagolchanskaya Central Processing Plant, divisions of the Rovenkovsky Loading and Transport Department, the Sverdlovsk Loading and Transport Department and other auxiliary industries were also transferred to the investor on lease.

Before the outbreak of hostilities in Donbas, the Molodogvardeyskaya, Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya and Barakov mines belonged to PJSC Krasnodonugol of the Metinvest holding of Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov. In 2015, Metinvest went out of business in these territories. Krasny Partizan and Kharkiv were part of the Ukrainian State Unitary Enterprise Sverdlovantratsit.

According to SPARK, in the last three years, the revenue of Donskoy Ugli has been falling: in 2021 it amounted to 20.9 billion rubles, in 2022 it sank to 9.7 billion rubles, in 2023 it fell to 1.2 billion rubles. Net profit also decreased — from 982.9 million rubles in 2021 to 204 million rubles in 2022. In 2023, the company received a net loss of 57.2 million rubles.

Knyazev told RBC that the company is now investing 2.9 billion rubles in a leased farm. own funds. This should be enough to put four lavas into operation by mid—2025 - underground mine workings through which coal is extracted. In the first half of the year, the company expects to produce 3.5 million tons of coal, by the end of the year — 5 million tons. Production for the incomplete year 2024 will amount to 1 million tons of coal. The share of coking coal in production ranges from 20 to 40%, anthracite — 60-70%. The investor estimates the total coal reserves in the leased enterprises at 500-700 million tons.