Irkutsk governor complains to government about ‘illegal’ miners

The governor of Irkutsk Oblast, Igor Kobzev, wrote a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees the fuel and energy complex, in which he complained about miners. This was reported by Vedomosti.

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In 2021, household electricity consumption in the region will exceed last year’s figures by 159%, Kobzev said. In the first six months of 2021 alone, the consumption level stood at 4.7 billion kWh, whereas during the past four years it totalled 5.9 billion kWh.

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Such growth does not align with the electricity balances in the region’s development program for 2022–2026, the governor noted.

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In the current situation Kobzev blames “illegal” miners, who consume electricity for cryptocurrency mining at household tariffs.

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“This is further aggravated by China’s ban on mining and the relocation of a substantial amount of equipment to Irkutsk Oblast,” the letter states.

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As a solution, Kobzev proposed differentiating tariffs for households according to a scheme in which the price gradually increases as consumption grows.

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According to BitRiver data-centre operator representative Roman Zabuga, there is no electricity shortage in Russia, but the issue here is commercial miners evading taxes and paying electricity at a heavily reduced price.

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He also noted the importance of refining Russian legislation to legalise mining.

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“Illegal activity can involve not only individuals but also legal entities. And even very large commercial structures that simply do not know how to organise such a process in Russia so that authorities do not trouble them later,” Zabuga said in a ForkLog interview.

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The Ministry of Energy confirmed that in Irkutsk Oblast there is a problem with illegal miners. To engage in such activity, one must enter into a contract with a guaranteed-supply electricity provider and pay for it at the tariff for “other consumers,” the ministry added.

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In Irkutsk Oblast, residents have traditionally one of the lowest tariffs in Russia. In the second half of 2021, the tariff for urban residents per kWh was set at 1.23 rubles.

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As ForkLog reported in June, in the Faraday energy-supply company, business pays under a different tariff—the average price for electricity, VAT included, for mining data-centres in Irkutsk Oblast was about 2.9 rubles per kWh. We requested up-to-date data.

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ForkLog previously reported on Bitcoin mining at the Bratsk Hydroelectric Station.

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