On June 11, 2021, Eduard Khudainatov’s “Bogatyr open-pit mine” company (registered in March 2021) won the auction for developing Bogatyr open-pit mine at Gorlovsky coal field in the Novosibirsk region. The reserves of the open-pit mine amount to 300 mio t of anthracite. The payment for the developing license reached 3.2 billion RUR ( 44.5 mio USD).
Initially, potential bidders included a subsidiary of Rostec state corporation – RT-Bogatyr, Eduard Khudainatov’s CoalStar, represented at the auction by two companies – Bogatyr open-pit mine and Antares. Also, Tashebinsky open-pit mine company, owned by Igor Markanov, planned to take part in the auction.
On June 02, 2021, following a complaint by Rostec state corporation, the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (FAS) ruled that additional conditions of the Bogatyr auction were contrary to law. However, on June 11, 2021, Rostec state corporation revoked its complaint and withdrew from the auction.
Under the complaint, additional conditions of the auction limit the number of potential bidders. The winner of the action was expected to guarantee the transportation of at least 10 mio t of coal per year via Bersk-Novoaltaysk railway line adjacent to the Trans-Siberian Railway. Also, the company responsible for developing Bogatyr open-pit mine would have to build at least five large-capacity specialized vessels for the export of coal. The winner shall not be an offshore company and its beneficiaries should be Russian tax residents. As a result, the Federal Agency for mineral resources of Russia (Rosnedra), responsible for the organization of the auction, removed the clause on criminal liability arising from the breach of the conditions, cancelled the bid protocol and reviewed the bids without Rostec.
CoalStar is a coal mining holding, which includes Mairykhsky open-pit mine and Beyskoye coal field. Industrial coal reserves of Beyskoye coal field total 1.36 billion t. In 2020, CoalStar extracted 4 mio t.
In 2020, production of anthracite in Russia totaled 22.3 mio t (-0.4 mio t or -1.8% y-o-y), of which 11.9 mio t or 53% were extracted by Sibanthracite, owned by A-Property of Albert Avdolyan. According to preliminary estimates, Bogatyr’s output may reach 5-8 mio t in 2025-2030. Thus, the share of the open-pit mine could amount to 1/4 of 30 mio t of Russian anthracite production in 2030 that might turn Bogatyr into the second largest anthracite producer in Russia after Sibanthracite.
Source: CAA Analytics
