Russian coal industry losses surged sharply in 2025 as sanctions pressure, rising rail tariffs and falling global coal prices pushed many producers into financial distress.
In 2025, net losses of Russian coal companies reached 5.4 billion USD exceeding 3 times losses in 2024, which hit 1.4 billion USD. The figure significantly overshoots the Ministry of Energy’s forecast of 3.6-4.2 billion USD. Moreover, for 2026, the Ministry of Energy predicts a 1.5-fold increase in losses for Russian coal enterprises.
In 2025, the share of loss-making companies reached 70%, compared to 50% a year earlier. There are 62 enterprises in the “red zone,” of which 20 have already halted production, and the rest are “on the verge of stopping”.
Combined losses in 2025 even exceeded 4.8 billion USD, because in December RZD (Russian Railways) once again increased freight tariffs by 10%, the ruble was strengthening, and interest rates were declining at a slow pace.
The Russian coal industry has lost almost 30 billion USD since 2022, resulting from sanctions pressure, as well as rail tariff and fiscal measures within the country. The bulk of the losses in amount of 18 billion USD are related to the restrictions imposed on Russian companies, while another 12 billion USD were withdrawn from the industry due to the growth of railway tariff and fiscal burden.
Debt burden by the end of 2025 was expected to amount to 18 billion USD (+0.4 billion USD y-o-y).
Therefore, in 2025, the downward momentum in the coal industry was intensifying amid falling prices in the global market, an increase in production costs and ruble appreciation. Additional factors that continue to negatively affect the financial results of coal producers were high railroad tariffs and limited transportation capacity of railroad infrastructure in eastbound direction. Moreover, Western sanctions significantly reduced the number of countries importing coal, thereby exacerbating the decline in total Russian supplies as there are no alternative sales markets.
Source: CCA
