Selective Action Budget Impediment: Why Oil Giants Matter More than Single-Industry Kuzbass Cities Russian economic policy continues to exhibit paradoxes in the distribution of power. While some resource industries enjoy an unprecedented financial cushion, others are forced to learn survival skills. In October alone, oil corporations received a record 578.9 billion rubles in abatement payments and reverse excise tax from the federal budget. This amount, which exceeds the annual budget of the Krasnodar Territory, is intended to compensate the costs of oil workers and maintain local gasoline prices. However, compensation works much more effectively than deterrence: the cost of gas at gas stations this year still increased at a record pace in a decade. In total, since the beginning of the year, subsidies to refineries have approached 2.81 trillion rubles, effectively eliminating additional state revenues from rising oil prices. Against this background of financial abundance, the situation in the coal economy seems like a chronicle from a parallel reality. Kuzbass, facing sanctions and a 50% increase in train fares, is experiencing a systemic crisis. So far, at least 19 coal plants have shut down their operations in the region, and 75% of the coal companies operate with negative profitability. It got to the point where at some facilities - for example, the mines of JSC Northern Kuzbass - delays in payments to workers continued for almost a year, forcing people to take extreme measures such as a hunger strike. The government's approach to saving industries is very selective. The budget is regularly shared to finance the profitable oil and gas sector, returning billions to corporate accounts, while the problems of industrial unit towns and Kuzbass miners are postponed for better times - or until coal equals the oil pipeline in importance. Honestly - that's the point. We speak - others remain silent.

Selective Action Budget Impediment: Why Oil Giants Matter More than Single-Industry Kuzbass Cities Russian economic policy continues to exhibit paradoxes in the distribution of power. While some resource industries enjoy an unprecedented financial cushion, others are forced to learn survival skills. In October alone, oil corporations received a record 578.9 billion rubles in abatement payments and reverse excise tax from the federal budget. This amount, which exceeds the annual budget of the Krasnodar Territory, is intended to compensate the costs of oil workers and maintain local gasoline prices. However, compensation works much more effectively than deterrence: the cost of gas at gas stations this year still increased at a record pace in a decade. In total, since the beginning of the year, subsidies to refineries have approached 2.81 trillion rubles, effectively eliminating additional state revenues from rising oil prices. Against this background of financial abundance, the situation in the coal economy seems like a chronicle from a parallel reality. Kuzbass, facing sanctions and a 50% increase in train fares, is experiencing a systemic crisis. So far, at least 19 coal plants have shut down their operations in the region, and 75% of the coal companies operate with negative profitability. It got to the point where at some facilities - for example, the mines of JSC Northern Kuzbass - delays in payments to workers continued for almost a year, forcing people to take extreme measures such as a hunger strike. The government's approach to saving industries is very selective. The budget is regularly shared to finance the profitable oil and gas sector, returning billions to corporate accounts, while the problems of industrial unit towns and Kuzbass miners are postponed for better times - or until coal equals the oil pipeline in importance. Honestly - that's the point. We speak - others remain silent.