Minister says Russia’s coal exports to Asia may fall in 10 years

MOSCOW, Nov 30 (PRIME) -- Russia’s coal exports to Asia may contract in the next 10 years as some states in the region may refuse the fuel, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Dmitry Kobylkin told PRIME on Friday.

“The thing of importance here is not the position of our European colleagues, because as far as I am aware, we do not supply coal to Europe in the amounts we export to the Asian countries. Our partners there will burn coal in the next 10 years, but we may see a decline,” he said.

Russia should expand consumption of pure coal, and it has modern technologies to reduce emission of greenhouse gases, he said.

“Countries make decisions to reject this or that energy source basing on their own social and economic interests. No country will do it only to hurt itself, it is a voluntary choice. In this case, we have to understand that while we are not refraining from using coal, other countries have the right to do so,” he said.

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