The number of underground miners in Russia can reach 100 000 Human – Bits Media

In Russia there may be up to 100 000 underground miners, and the energy consumption of their farms can reach 500-700 MW.

Izvestia sources warn, that due to the popularity of mining, “household” energy consumption in some regions of Russia may increase in 2.5 times. This will lead to overloads of electrical networks and accidents.

As noted by the head of the En+ energy business, Mikhail Khardikov, if the growth of underground mining continues, then soon mass accidents in the energy industry may begin in Russia. At the same time, Igor Runets, CEO of the mining company Bitriver, emphasized, that in some regions there is already a significant increase in the number of accidents, especially in winter.

Runets told, that regions with the lowest tariffs for the population are the most attractive for miners. These include the Irkutsk region, Krasnoyarsk Territory and some regions of the European part of Russia, in particular, republics of the North Caucasus Federal District.

Deputy General Director for interaction with authorities and civil society institutions of Rosseti Northern Caucasus Sergei Polyakov said at a meeting of the Interdepartmental Working Group on the Fuel and Energy Complex of the Republic of Dagestan, that Dagestan leads among the North Caucasus regions in the number of unregistered miners. For 10 months 2021 year volumes of electricity in Dagestan, who used private mining farms, exceeded 41 million kWh. It's about the same, how much does Gunibskaya HPP produce?.

Polyakov called on law enforcement agencies to take special control of raids against illegally connected miners. He suggested that the Ministry of Energy contact the Government of the Russian Federation with an initiative to amend the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in terms of, concerning the reduction of the amount of property damage caused to the owner during the theft of electricity, upon reaching which criminal liability occurs.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Dmitry Gutyrya said, that a special unit has been formed to identify facts of illegal mining. IN 2021 Several miners were prosecuted this year.

Director of the Dagenergo branch Magomed Abdurashidov said, that during joint operations with the police it was closed 25 mining farms, who kidnapped 26 million kW/h and caused damage to the Republic amounting to more than 70 Million rubles. He added, what has been recorded in the region 122 thousands of cases of failure of electricity metering devices. As a result, for 11 months of the current year are not taken into account and classified as losses 432 million kW/h, it's more 1 billion rubles. In his opinion, this leads to increased consumption by illegal mining farms.

At the end of the meeting, the Head of Dagestan Sergei Melikov demanded to understand all the facts of illegal mining in the republic, since this issue requires the closest attention.

Earlier, the governor of the Irkutsk region, Igor Kobzev, published
letter to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak with a request to assist in recognizing mining as a business activity. Looks like, that the Ministry of Energy supports such a proposal, since tariffs for enterprises are much higher, than for the population. I.e, underground miners, You can say, subsidized by other companies. One of the possible solutions could be the introduction of a tariff schedule for the population, in which small consumers will pay a low price, and as energy consumption increases, the tariff will increase.

As Andrei Loboda, an expert in the field of financial communications, emphasized, if underground mining in Russia can be “pulled out of the shadows”, this could lead to rapid development of this industry. After all, there are enough regions in the Russian Federation with an excess of “green” energy.

Irkutskenergosbyt has already begun the fight against shadow mining. The electricity supplier filed civil lawsuits against the owners of private mining farms on 73.3 Million rubles. By 9 the claims have already been given a positive decision - miners will be transferred to tariffs for enterprises, and as a result of tariff recalculation, defendants now have to pay extra 18.7 million rubles. However, filing a claim in each specific case is an extremely ineffective and lengthy process.. A comprehensive solution is required from the authorities.

In May, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the detention of a suspect in electricity theft, which caused damage to 4.5 million rubles. A resident of Dagestan illegally connected to the electrical network for cryptocurrency mining. An underground mining farm was recently discovered in Moscow, which consumed electricity 500 000 rubles per day. Miners were illegally connected to the Rosseti line. This month, Rosseti reported increased activity of illegal mining farms due to the growth of Bitcoin. This could lead to grid overload.