Coal industry of Kuzbass: socio-political dimension

The article is devoted to the development of the coal industry in the context of the growing global trend towards the decarbonization of economies and the reconfiguration of energy markets. The Kemerovo region, being one of the largest Russian coal-mining regions, is in a zone of increased risk associated with global trends since the region depends socially, economically, and infrastructurally on how successfully and longly coal will be used in the energy sector of Russia and other countries importing Russian coal. This article aims to reveal the significance of the Kuzbass coal industry for the country and the region in the sociopolitical context of global and domestic trends. In this regard, the coal industry of Kuzbass is considered through the prism of political and strategic documents defining federal policy (industrial/coal, energy and climate) and regional policy (on the development of the region and the development of the coal industry, social policy). The article is structured as follows: first, the industry context of the coal industry as a whole in Russia is given, including the structure of the industry, the economy and participation in the social, economic and political processes of the country; then the social and political positioning of the Kemerovo region as a coal mining region is considered. The study concludes that the Russian government views the coal industry as an economic asset and seeks to protect it from the risks and threats formulated as "Western-style decarbonization". The government creates a protective niche to counteract external pressure on the development of the industry by providing access to financial resources and alternative markets. The coal industry is also experiencing an "internal" recession provoked by the peculiarities of its energy balance (availability of cheap gas) and the location of large coal reserves, remote from consumers within the country and abroad. To cope with this trend, the government is introducing measures to improve the efficiency of the industry and the spatial diversification of coal production. Kuzbass, having a long "coal" history and deep roots of the coal industry in the politics, economy and social life of the region, is in a particularly vulnerable position, associated, firstly, with global decarbonization trends and secondly, with the state's domestic policy on spatial diversification of coal production. The region tries to diversify its economy. However, the measures maintain and strengthen the positioning of Kuzbass as a coal region.