Illegal Mining Farms Create Energy Shortages in Siberia

Illegal mining activities have led to severe electricity shortages in regions like Siberia, where abundant energy resources are critical for both industrial and residential use. These illegal operations consume vast amounts of energy without proper licensing or payment, pushing the Russian government to take decisive action. Starting in 2023, tariffs on electricity were raised in an attempt to reduce illegal mining, but this approach had limited success.

In response, authorities introduced new measures in 2024, allowing the confiscation of mining equipment and imposing fines as high as 60 million rubles on violators. In one notable case in Krasnoyarsk, a mining operation was fined 60 million rubles and had its equipment seized, while in Novosibirsk, miners were sentenced to five years in prison for electricity theft and large-scale fraud.