ST.PETERSBURG, June 28. /TASS/. Russia is more and more reorienting its coal exports to the east, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said at the International Congress of coal enrichment.
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Novak said that creation of new centers of coal production, mainly in the east, with the complexes for coal processing is among the priority areas for development of coal processing in Russia.
"Coal is the fifth basic export product of Russia after oil, oil products, gas and iron. It annually provides about $10 billion of foreign exchange earnings to the country. As I have already said, coal export volume Russia ranks third in the world, the Russian coal is consumed in 64 countries," the minister said.
The share of coal in the global energy balance will be reduced to about 25% in the long term perspective from the current 29%, Novak said, adding that coal production in Russia will grow to 390 mln tonnes in 2016.
"Coal continues to play a crucial role in the global economy. In the structure of the global consumption of fuel and energy resources, the share of coal is 29%. It is second only to oil, which accounts for 33%. In the future, the share of coal in the global energy balance will shrink to about 25%," Novak said.