Kazakhstan, Astana, Aug. 6 / Trend D.Mukhtarov /
Kazakhstan imports just over a million tons of coal a year to Kyrgyzstan, First Vice-Minister of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Albert Rau told Trend.
"Kazakh coal-mining companies supplied 1.1 million tons of coal to Kyrgyzstan in 2012. The coal mainly comes from the Shubarkol coal deposit. (Shubarkol JSC- 939,000 tons, LLP Karazhyra LTD - 189,300 tons, LLP Maikuben West - 6,300 tons)," Rau said.
According to him, Kazakh coal is also supplied to the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Poland, Finland, Greece, Great Britain and other countries.
"The coal companies produced 114.3 million tons of coal in 2012, which is 4.3 million tons or 3.8 percent more than in 2011," Rau said.
Alongside, he said, 81.5 million tons of coal was supplied to the domestic market and 32.8 million tons - for export in 2012.
"Of the total coal supplied to Kazakh consumers, 56.5 million tons were shipped by energy-producing enterprises," Rau said.
As previously reported, the Minister of Energy and Industry of Kyrgyzstan Osmonbek Artykbaev spoke about the intention to stop exporting Kazakh coal and make use of the coal resources of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Earlier, the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Kazakhstan told Trend that Kyrgyzstan's decision to abandon its coal will be no big loss for Kazakhstan.
"Kyrgyz decision to stop exporting Kazakh coal will be no great loss for us. The country has already passed the barrier of 100 million tons of production per year in 2010. Supplies to Kyrgyzstan against this background are very small. Main export destinations for Kazakh coal are Russian power plants," he said.
Rau also said that the coal mined in the country is used for own needs and supplied to Kazakh power plants. The coal industry provides 80 percent of electricity production in the republic.
The source said that the coal production in Kazakhstan will exceed 130 million tons in 2015, and by 2030 this figure will exceed 155 million tons per year.
In the next 10 years, Kazakhstan plans to invest about $4 billion in the coal industry, including $1.7 billion in the construction of new facilities and the introduction of innovative technologies and nearly $2 billion dollars - in updating the mine and quarry fund.
Today, Kazakhstan's share in the world coal production stands at 1.7 percent, and among the CIS countries - at 15 percent. Kazakhstan is ranked eighth in the world in terms of coal reserves.