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Eastern Russia needs electricity. For years, the region has been living off Soviet reserves. That could now be over.
Vladivostok – When Western sanctions began, Russia announced that the whole of Germany would freeze in winter and that without Russian gas the energy crisis would bring the country to a standstill. Two years later, Germany has largely broken away from Russian energy and found alternatives – instead, the eastern regions of Russia are now facing exactly the same fate.
Russia’s economy is running out of energy – Soviet reserves “used up”
Russia is said to have used up its last remaining energy reserves from the Soviet era. The electricity generating industry needs more financial resources – this was reported by the news portal Newsweek among others, citing statements by Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev. The politician is said to have made such remarks at an economic summit in Vladivostok, Russia, after those present asked him about the energy supply situation in Russia’s eastern regions in winter.
Photo montage with Russian President Vladimir Putin and an old gas station in Soviet design (symbolic photo). The east of Russia needs electricity. For years, the region had been living off Soviet reserves. That could now be over. © IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire Alexander Kazakov / & / IMAGO / Zoonar Alexander A. Piragis
“The main reason (for the depletion of Soviet-era energy, editor’s note) is the lack of funds for modernization and maintenance of equipment,” quoted Newsweek; previously, the Russian news agency TASS reported. Tsivilev continued: “In order to minimize risks, we have already classified areas in the Far East District as high-risk regions in the electricity industry and are taking measures to reduce accidents and improve the reliability of heat generation.”
Russia is divided into eight federal districts, of which the “Far East” is one of the largest. It lies east of Siberia and borders the East Siberian Sea to the north, the Sea of Japan to the east and Mongolia and China to the south – there is also a short stretch of border with North Korea.
Russia’s economy needs new power plants – nuclear power for the Far East
The problem is also facing the Russian President Wladimir Putin On September 5, he stated that some regions, settlements and some large investors in the Far East are already experiencing shortages in electricity supply. They are “forced to wait for new power plants to come into operation, which in turn slows down construction, industrial facilities and infrastructure.”
However, the President has already given instructions to the government and large energy companies to develop long-term development programs aimed at supplying energy to the Far East. There are also discussions about nuclear power plants in the Far East region. Russia’s Far East region consumes 69 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually.
Too little investment in technology – Russia’s economy needs the West
An overview of how energy production developed during the last years of the Soviet Union (USSR) is provided by the Data Resource Handbook the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Between 1970 and 1988, the USSR increased its oil production from 502 billion tons to 892.8 billion tons, and natural gas production more than tripled to 889 million tons. Coal production only increased slightly. At the time, the CIA predicted that the 1990s would be a “difficult time” as oil production was slowly declining and the nuclear program was being slowed down due to “growing anti-nuclear sentiment.”
Much more importantly, the CIA had already noted in 1990 that the costs of new energy technologies in Russia would have to rise dramatically, while the equipment and technology available to the Union were insufficient to exploit the more difficult-to-reach energy reserves. Moscow was dependent on Western help to open up new areas of energy production.
“Major obstacle” for oil and gas – end of Soviet reserves forces innovation
Since 2000, Russia has mainly expanded its production of crude oil and natural gas. The only other energy source that has also seen an increase in domestic energy production is coal – all other energy sources are more or less stagnating. At least that is what data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows.
The fact that Soviet-era energy reserves are coming to an end in the foreseeable future was also reported by the London International Institute for Strategic Studies in the summer of 2022. Major players in the Russian energy market are “forced to develop technologically challenging reserves.” The loss of access to Western technology and capital will prove to be a “major obstacle” to Russia’s ability to maintain oil and gas production in the future.
