The Shubarkol Premium coal enterprise, which operates in an open-pit operation at the Tsentralny-2 site of the Shubarkol coal deposit in the Karaganda region, plans to increase production within five years. This is stated in the materials of the public hearings on the project documentation for the mining plan for 2024-2038, which will be held at the end of October. inbusiness.kz .
“Production volumes by year: 2024 – 2000,0 thousand tons; 2025 – 2500,0 thousand tons; 2026 – 3000,0 thousand tons; 2027 – 4000,0 thousand tons; 2028 – 5000,0 thousand tons,” is predicted in the draft emission standards regarding emissions of pollutants into the environment for five years, posted on the hearing page of the unified environmental portal ecoportal.kz .
The mining plan of the enterprise assumes that 92.7 million tons of Shubarkol coal, which is known for its valuable content, caloric content and very low ash content, will be mined over the remaining contract period over 15 years. This coal is used in many European thermal power plants, unlike Kazakh thermal power plants.
The contract for the subsurface use of Shubarkol Premium was issued in 2013 for 25 years. In 2022, the company produced 3 million tons of coal, more than 1.7 million tons in 2022. The company planned to reach 4 million tons of production in 2023 and 5 million tons by 2027. However, due to difficulties in transporting coal for export through the Russian Railways infrastructure, last year the production target decreased to 1.6 million tons, which was different from the prescribed level stipulated in the subsoil use contract. At the same time, in 2023, 1.9 million tons of coal were sold, their revenue exceeded 74 billion tenge, and as a result, the loss amounted to minus 4 billion tenge.
As previously reported, Kenes Rakishev and Shukhrat Ibragimov bought Shubarkol Premium in September. According to an industry official, the company had previously been claimed by Russian and Chinese investors. Ibragimov recently became the head of the Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), which controls another coal company, Shubarkol Komir, and is a representative of the family that owns 20.7% of ERG shares.
This combination of coal resources raises questions about the concentration of economic power, because Shubarkol Komir, which operates in the Tsentralny and Zapadny sections of the Shubarkolskoye field, is considered a dominant player in the domestic domestic coal market, controlling its share of more than 25%. However, it should be taken into account that Shubarkol Premium had a high cost.
