Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Concept of Transformation of the Socioeconomic System of the Kuzbass in the Context of Decarbonization Policy

  • REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
  • Published:
Regional Research of Russia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The transformation of the Kuzbass (Kemerovo oblast) economy has been presented in regional strategic planning documents for decades as the most important tool for accelerated development. The authors of the article argue that, unfortunately, over the past 20 years, almost no qualitative changes have occurred in the Kuzbass economy, and they name the reasons for this situation. Currently, Kuzbass faces the difficult task of choosing a long-term development model. On the one hand, despite existing internal challenges and risks, the government is directing business and society towards accelerated development, relying primarily on the growth of coal production and development of small and medium-sized businesses. On the other hand, a critical mass of subjective and objective circumstances is gradually accumulating in Kuzbass, which in the medium term can radically change the situation, and transformation of the economy will be the only possible development model. The main problem is the prospect of coal being squeezed out of the global economy under the pressure of the decarbonization trend. In Russia, there is no generally recognized systematic approach to the issue of structural reorganization of coal-producing regions in the context of a decarbonization policy. The authors, having studied current world practices, propose an original concept for transformation of the Kuzbass economy based on the Just Transition Principles, used by the European Union. A prerequisite for its successful implementation should be a dialogue between government, business, and society in developing and agreeing on corridors for the future development of the region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Sivokhina, A. The head of Rosprirodnadzor called the Kuzbass the biggest “waste generator,” Information portal “Kuzbass.” October 17, 2021. https://kuzbass85.ru/2021/10/07/glava-rosprirodnadzora-nazvala-kuzbass-samym-bolshim-generatorom-othodov/.

  2. Rating Regions by Quality of Life–2021, RIA Rating, February 15, 2022. https://riaratmg.ru/infografika/20220215/ 630216951.html.

  3. Best Regions for Life, RBC Rating, RBC. April 12, 2021. https://www.rbc.ru/eco-nomics/26/04/2021/6078136e9a7947d0e9e1b1fb.

  4. Guidelines for a Just Transition towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies for All, International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/pub-lic/edemp/empent/documents/publication/ wcms_432859.pdf.

  5. Goals in the Field of Sustainable Development, Official Website of the United Nations. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/en/sustainable-development-goals/.

  6. Solidarity and Just Transition Silesia Declaration. 2018, IndustriALL Global Union website. https://www.industriall-union.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/2018/POLAND/COP24/solidarity_and_just_tran-sition_silesia_declaration.pdf.

  7. Members COP26 adopted the Just Transition Declaration, IndustriALL Global Union. https://www.industriall-union.org/ru/ uchastniki-cop26-prinyali-deklaraciyu-o-spra-vedlivom-perehode.

  8. The Just Transition Mechanism: making sure no one is left behind, European Commission. https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/eu-ropean-green-deal/finance-and-green-deal/just-tra-nsition-mechanism_en.

  9. Program for Socioeconomic Development of Kemerovo oblast–Kuzbass until 2024 (approved by Decree of the Russian Federation Government no. 556-r of March 6, 2021). http://static.govemment.ru/media/files/JdaK3JTUTv5pCKcPuG4ttgPRv6lnaxuU.pdf.

  10. On the breaking of trends: The future of Russian coal exports. PwC, 2020, p. 10.

  11. Zainullin, E. Coal is driven into Russia, Kommersant, April 19, 2022. https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5317031.

  12. See the official website of the Ministry of Coal Industry of the Kuzbass. https://mupk42.ru/ru/industry/.

REFERENCES

  1. Astakhov, A.S., Experience and lessons of restructuring the coal industry in Russia, Ekon. Nauka Sovrem. Ross., 2001, no. 1, pp. 59–73.

  2. Fridman, Yu.A., Loginova, E.Yu., Rechko, G.N., and Khokhrina, O.I., Kuzbass as a coal mining area: Experience of transformation and assessment of development corridors, EKO, 2022, no. 5, pp. 88–110. https://doi.org/10.30680/ECO0131-7652-2022-5-88-110

  3. Just Transition Toolbox for Coal Regions, Wuppertal Institute, 2022. https://coaltransitions.org/publications/a-just-transition-toolbox-for-coal-regions/. Cited March 1, 2022.

  4. Kryukov, V.A., Fridman, Yu.A., Rechko, G.N., and Loginova, E.Yu., Kuzbass v novom vremeni (Kuzbass in the New Time), Kuleshov, V.V. and Seliverstov, V.E., Eds., Novosibirsk: Inst. Ekon. Org. Prom. Proizvod. Sib. Otd. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2020.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Kryukov, V.A., Suslov, N.I., and Yagolnitser, M.A., The Eastern vector of the Russian economy—The success is based on the synergy of interaction and interregional cooperation, Nauchn. Tr. Vol’n. Ekon. O-va Ross., 2021, vol. 230, no. 4, pp. 90–102. https://doi.org/10.38197/2072-2060-2021-230-4-90-102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Monitoring, otsenka i prognoz sostoyaniya okruzhayushchei prirodnoi sredy na osnove sovremennykh informatsionnykh tekhnologii (Monitoring, Assessment and Forecast of the State of the Natural Environment Based on Modern Information Technologies), Kupriyanov, A.N., Ed., Kemerovo: Aziya, 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Plakitkin, Yu.A. and Plakitkina, L.S., The Paris agreement as a factor of accelerating the “energy transition”: Measures to adapt the coal industry to new challenges, Ugol’, 2021, no. 10, pp. 19–23. https://doi.org/10.18796/0041-5790-2021-10-19-23

  8. Rozhkov, A.A., Regulirovanie sotsial’no-ekonomicheskikh posledstvii promyshlennoi restrukturizatsii (na primere ugol’noi otrasli) (Regulation of the Socioeconomic Consequences of Industrial Restructuring (the Case of the Coal Industry)), Moscow: Rosinformugol’, 2016.

  9. Structural Change in Coal Regions as a Process of Economic and Social-Ecological Transition – Lessons Learnt from Structural Change Processes in Germany, German Environment Agency, 2022. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/me-dien/1410/publikationen/2022-01-04_cc_33-2021_lessons_learnt_from_structural_change_p-rocesses.pdf. Cited February 25, 2022.

  10. Zimakov, A.V., The problem of degradation of the coal-mining regions of the European Union in the conditions of the ecologization of European energy, Reg. Ekon. Upr.: Elektron. Nauchn. Zh., 2019, vol. 59, no. 3, p. 5915. https://eee-region.ru/article/5915/. Cited January 20, 2022.

Download references

Funding

The article was prepared according to the research plan of the Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (project no. 121040100279-5 “Driving Forces and Mechanisms of Cooperation and Integration Processes in the Economy of Siberia”).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Yu. A. Fridman, E. Yu. Loginova & G. N. Rechko

  2. Kemerovo State University, 650000, Kemerovo, Russia

    O. I. Khokhrina

Authors
  1. Yu. A. Fridman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. E. Yu. Loginova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G. N. Rechko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. O. I. Khokhrina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yu. A. Fridman, E. Yu. Loginova, G. N. Rechko or O. I. Khokhrina.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fridman, Y.A., Loginova, E.Y., Rechko, G.N. et al. Concept of Transformation of the Socioeconomic System of the Kuzbass in the Context of Decarbonization Policy. Reg. Res. Russ. 13, 480–489 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970523700892

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970523700892

Keywords:

Search

Navigation