Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, standing for election in a March presidential vote, pledged $8 billion in development aid for the coal industry during a visit to a major mining region, a hotbed of political protest in the past. KEMEROVO — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, standing for election in a March presidential vote, pledged $8 billion in development...

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — The Kyrgyz government says it will reprimand officials responsible for allowing contaminated radioactive coal to be imported into the country from Kazakhstan. Emergency Services Minister Kubatbek Boronov said Thursday that 990 tons of tainted coal will be shipped back to Kazakhstan later this week. Deputy Prime Minister Aaly Karashev said officials who failed...

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Prosecutors in Kyrgyzstan say seven people face charges over the import of contaminated radioactive coal from Kazakhstan. The prosecutor general's office said Tuesday that health and customs officers allowed the coal to be sent to schools, an orphanage and an old people's home. The case has caused a furor, with rival politicians accusing one another...

Coal producer Raspadskaya risks "potential cancellation or freezing" of its share buyback after investors offered more shares than are outstanding. Coal producer Raspadskaya risks "potential cancellation or freezing"...

Indonesia plans a $2.4 billion rail line, together with state firm Russian Railways, on Borneo Island, which will initially be used to transport coal. Indonesia plans a $2.4 billion rail line, together with state firm Russian Railways, on Borneo Island, which will initially be used to transport coal, an Indonesian government official said. The line in the East Kalimantan province is expected...

Oleg Deripaska's En+ Group plans to invest at least $1.5 billion to increase coal production by almost 50 percent by 2020 and is studying acquisitions in Russia, Mongolia and Indonesia. Oleg Deripaska's En+ Group plans to invest at least $1.5 billion to increase coal production by almost 50 percent by...

Raspadskaya's coal output fell 13 percent last year, missing a target issued only in December, partly on delays to safety approvals as it restores production at its main mine after a 2010 blast killed 90 people. The company produced 6.25 million tons, Raspadskaya said...

Steel and coking coal producer Mechel may have to call in state support to finance its $9 billion debt pile in 2012 if it once again fails to pull off an initial public offering of its mining unit in New York or London. Steel and coking coal producer Mechel may have...

... although changes might be needed once Europe enters the development phase. In Poland, so far, energy security concerns have trumped environmental worries. In comparison with countries such as Britain or Germany, the green movement is less powerful in coal-reliant Eastern Europe. A late 2011 poll found that 73 percent of Poles backed developing shale, while only 4 percent opposed exploiting the unconventional gas. A short drive outside Lesniowice, workers at a Chevron-operated wellhead keep a massive...

Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said Tuesday that he was "ready" to look at a potential merger of Transneft and Zarubezhneft, a state oil producer that has assets in Vietnam. (Bloomberg) Mechel Mining, a coal and iron ore unit of Mechel, said Tuesday that shareholders approved an underwriting agreement on a "large deal," according to a regulatory filing today. (Bloomberg)

In early January, the Russian Federation's Supreme Arbitration Court published Presidium Ruling No. 8654/11 in the case of OAO Coal Company Severny Kuzbass. One of the main issues in the case was the application of Russian thin capitalization rules (in Article 269.2 of the Tax Code) in view of the nondiscrimination provisions of double taxation treaties. Boris Bruk Of Counsel...

... No such deal was reached and Sunday's talks marked the official resumption of the negotiation process. Kiev has also raised the specter of energy independence from Russia with senior politicians, stating that Gazprom's high prices make a switch to coal, liquefied natural gas and shale gas economically attractive. Yanukovych said Friday that the current gas price was "killing domestic manufacturers," Interfax reported. Ukraine will increase its coal output 2.4 percent in 2012 and Naftogaz...

Ukraine intends to gradually reduce the volume of gas bought from Russia starting from 2013. Ukraine intends to gradually reduce the volume of gas bought from Russia starting from 2013, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yury Boiko said. "We have told our Russian partners that we cannot buy [a lot of gas at the current price] and have to switch to alternative energy resources. If the gas price goes down, we will buy more of it, and if not...

... Markets could start to investigate the excessive number of shares tendered." The buyback will proceed as planned, Alexander Andreyev, a Raspadskaya spokesman, said Tuesday. Russian laws are to blame for discrepancies during the buyback, he said. The coal producer planned to repurchase about 10 percent of its stock at 150 rubles ($5) each. (Bloomberg)

... Yelena Dikun. Titled “Bridge Over an Abyss,” the documentary looked over 20 years of post-Soviet ups and downs. It credits Putin, who is seeking a third presidential term, for the resurgent economy. Offering footage of grinning oligarchs, coal miners banging their hardhats on the ground during a strike and a cartoonish President Boris Yeltsin dancing disjointedly while steering a ship named “Russia,” the film features a voiceover asserting that Putin prevented the country from...

... Moscow office, called the Severny Kuzbass decision "groundbreaking." In an interview following the workshop, Loup took a negative view of the ruling. "It was a bad decision," he said. Among major shareholders in Severny Kuzbass, a coal-mining company in western Siberia, is ArcelorMittal Holdings, the global steel and mining concern headed by Lakshmi Mittal and based in Luxembourg, according to the Severny Kuzbass website. In 2007, Severny Kuzbass received a loan from steelmaker...