Siberian Coal Energy Company

Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK) is Russia's largest coal company and one of the largest heat and power generators. It is one of the world’s largest coal energy companies and a top-5 global coal supplier.
The company was founded in 2001, it is headquartered in Moscow. The full official name is Joint-Stock Company Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK JSC). The head of the company is CEO Stepan Solzhenitsyn, son of novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
It is the world's fourth largest coal supplier by international sales (after Glencore, BHP Biliton, and Anglo American) and the fifth largest company by coal reserves.
History.
SUEK was based on the idea to consolidate disparate coal enterprises throughout Russian regions into a large industrial holding in the early 2000s.
The assets that formed SUEK were distressed – the production capacity was less than 30 million tons per year, the enterprises employed 70,000 miners yet productivity was low, and virtually none of its output was exported. Amid the collapse of mining businesses and widespread miners strikes due to unpaid wages and poor working conditions, the average equipment depreciation was 90%.
During the early years of the business, SUEK’s assets were modernized, debts were repaid, wages and taxes were paid, and a vast modernization program was launched with new equipment and machinery for all its units. The old mines and worn-out equipment were transformed into modern enterprises, several enrichment factories and modules were put into operation, incorporating the latest processing technologies that allowed SUEK to produce highly enriched coal with low impurity levels. 
SUEK built modern coal bulk terminals and upgraded seaports, and built Russia’s first coal mine methane processing station to generate power within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol. Russia’s first smart mining management control center was built to run all SUEK’s operations, monitoring the location and well-being of miners working underground.
After the consolidation of electric power assets, the Siberian Generating Company (SGC) was created as a part of SUEK, and then spun it out as a separate company. It became one of the leading heating power energy holdings in the country and the fourth largest heat producer in the world. In 2018, SUEK took over SGC making SUEK as one of the world's largest coal energy companies.
In the last 15 years, SUEK has invested US$10 billion in coal production and power generation. 
SUEK's assets produce nearly 110 million tons of coal annually and the company employs over 70,000 people.
Owners and management.
The main beneficiary of the company is Russian entrepreneur Andrey Melnichenko, who owns 92.2% of SUEK. 
The CEO (General Director) from 2004 to 2020 was , who owns 7.8% of SUEK.
Since May 2020, SUEK’s new CEO is Stepan Solzhenitsyn (who was CEO of SUEK’s energy division SGC), a former McKinsey Senior Partner in energy, and a son of novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Chairman of the Board of Directors - Samir Brikho.
Operations.
SUEK operates 27 open-pit and underground mines and 27 power plants in Siberia and in the Russian Far East, which produce about 24% of coal in Russia and generate 6% of Russia's electricity. 
SUEK's assets produce over 100 million tons of coal annually, with assured coal reserves of 7.6 billion tons. 
Its coal, power generation and logistics enterprises in 12 Russian regions employ over 70,000 people.
SUEK produces high-calorific coal with low sulphur and nitrogen content. According to The Financial Times, SUEK is Russia's largest producer of higher-quality thermal coal. As reported, according to the International Energy Agency's Clean Coal Centre, "SUEK, Russia's main exporter of higher-quality thermal coal, has invested in modern high-capacity washing plants and has ash control technologies at all its coal ports". According to Bloomberg, SUEK is Russia's largest producer of higher quality thermal coal which focusses on "high-quality and less-emitting coal".
SUEK uses automation and digitalization in coal mining. As The Financial Times reported, SUEK "is rolling out big-data tools and automation across its 26 mines in Kemerovo and elsewhere in Siberia. In some mining operations, it is even experimenting with completely replacing workers with machines" and that it "has piloted Russia’s first fully automated longwall in Polysaevo." 
SUEK supplies high-calorific value coal to 48 countries on 5 continents through its own sales and distribution network, including the Asia Pacific where coal plays a key role in energy access and new HELE (high efficiency, low emission) coal-fired power plants are being built to reduce their environmental impact.
Sustainability.
According to S&P Global Ratings, "while the coal sector faces increasingly immediate environmental and social risks, SUEK's mining segment outperforms peers on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions", noting that "the company is generally in line with peers for its most material factors of safety and communities, but we note strong performance in workforce and diversity. Its governance structure compares positively to local standards and well with international standards. According to ESG Ranking of Russian companies 2021 by RAEX, SUEK ranks 11th out of 110 companies.
According to Bettercoal and IEA, SUEK produces coal sustainably with the best environmental technologies in coal mining including dust suppression and air filtering, methane capturing for energy generation, a closed water cycle with wastewater treatment, and land re-cultivation projects. As part of Bettercoal Code compliance audit in 2018, SUEK demonstrated best practice environmental performance in effective water and energy management, reducing hazardous waste and re-cultivation programmes.
According to the company, SUEK’s subsidiary SGC produces more sustainable energy in Russia by co-generation of electricity and heat which reduces the coal combusted and the environmental impact by 25% for the same output. SGC operates modern combined heat and power plants (CHPP) which reduce fuel use and emissions per unit of energy produced, with 96% for heat and 38% for electricity produced in the combined cycle. According to the company, co-generation reduces 10 times more CO2 emissions already today than from the use of all Russia’s renewables currently planned (including wind and solar), while it is 5-10 times more cost-effective in cutting CO2 emissions than are renewables (with 45% of electricity and 95% of heat in Siberia generated from coal).
Performance Indicators.
Performance indicators for years, coal production amounted to: