Effective implementation of measures to ensure environmental safety is one of the main components of Russia's stable development in modern conditions

Sarkisov Vladimir Postgraduate Student, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation 121087, Russia, Moskva oblast', g. Moscow, ul. Bol'shaya Filevskaya, 4 Sarkisovlr@gmail.com

An analysis of the development of the world community over the past centuries shows that as the transition from one to another, more progressive technical way of life, humanity not only increased its standard of living, but at the same time, as a result of its activities, it had an increasingly destructive impact on the environment.  At the same time, today we are all witnessing that all over the world, through human fault, global warming has been added to the number of such negative impacts on nature as air pollution, water bodies, an increase in the volume of technical waste, etc., and as a result, an increased number of climatic cataclysms, accompanied by significant human casualties, significant destruction of entire infrastructures. regions that lead to significant economic losses.  As a result, today, more than ever before, all over the world, including for every state, regardless of the forms of government, issues arise to ensure environmental safety, which in turn become one of the priority areas of state-building.  In Russia, the issues of ensuring environmental safety and environmental protection are also among the priority areas and are designed to ensure a high standard of living for Russians. This was consolidated in Presidential Decrees No. 204 of May 7, 2018 "On National goals and Strategic Objectives of the Development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2024" and No. 176 of 19.04.2017 on "The Strategy of Environmental Safety of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025". The largest federal project to improve the environmental situation in Russia is: “Implementation of the best available technologies”, for which it is planned to allocate 2,427 billion rubles in total. Based on Rosstat data, the volume of waste increases disproportionately annually in relation to the capacity for their disposal. During the period from 2016 to 2019, the volume of disposed waste increased by 21.9%, while the amount of waste generated increased by 44.4%.

Figure 1 – Waste generation and disposal in Russia, billion tons.

Thus, it is possible to form a conclusion about the low growth rates of the introduction of waste disposal facilities, which is the result of the inefficiency of the measures taken to protect the environment and ensure economic security.

The main source of waste is heavy industry enterprises associated with the extraction of coal and metal ores, the volume of emissions from these industries is about 90% of all waste. At the same time, based on the data of the Ministry of Energy, the volume of coal production has remained unchanged and even decreased over the past four years.

Figure 2 – the volume of coal production and waste in Russia, million tons.

While the amount of waste produced during coal mining has increased significantly, so in 2015, 1 million tons of coal produced accounted for 8.21 million tons of emissions, by 2019 this amount was already 12.93 million tons, which is 57% higher (see Figure 2). The increase in emissions indicates a low the level of compliance with environmental standards in the coal mining industry.

One of the measures to reduce emissions, as part of the implementation of the federal project: “Introduction of the best available technologies”, is the provision of subsidies to cover coupon costs in the amount of 70% - 90% of the total amount of payments for bonds in the amount of up to 30 billion rubles. The volume of coupon coverage of 70% is carried out for equipment purchased from foreign manufacturers, 90% coverage is provided when buying domestic equipment. It is envisaged that the issued bonds will repay the costs associated with the acquisition of new fixed assets of a higher level of environmental standards to reduce emissions into the environment.

The Russian coal mining market is fragmented, with several large companies holding a key share. One of the key companies is PJSC SUEK, which occupies approximately a quarter of the coal mining market. A comprehensive analysis of operational and financial results shows that in 2019, the volume of production amounted to 106.2 million tons of coal, while the total cost of “Fixed assets" was $ 12.3 billion. The level of investments based on the cash flow statement for capital expenditures and the purchase of non-current assets was $1.3 billion per year. It will take about 12-13 years to upgrade a larger share of fixed assets. Thus, the volume of investments to maintain production will be approximately 1.3 billion dollars or 91 billion rubles annually. At the same time, the company has plans to expand production and increase production levels, which will require even greater capital investments on an annual basis.

With this volume of production and its maintenance, the provision of subsidies for the amount of coupon expenses up to 90%, bonds of 30 billion rubles will be incommensurable for these enterprises. The measures formed will not allow maintaining and increasing production, especially for equipment of a higher international technological standard.

Historically, there has been a positive trend in the growth of investments in OK (Fixed capital) in the coal mining industry, the average increase is estimated at 27.6% over the past 4 years. When implementing measures for the transition of companies to more environmentally friendly equipment, it is necessary to take into account the dynamics of changes in investments and the increase in the cost of the equipment itself, while taking into account the market value, including in foreign currency. Since most of the equipment has a high level of technological standards, it is mainly produced in foreign countries.

Figure 3 – The volume of investments in the OK of the coal mining industry, billion rubles.

The proposed measures within the framework of the federal project “Introduction of the best available technologies” require adjustments for large coal mining companies. Moreover, an increase in demand for equipment with higher environmental standards leads to an increase in its cost, which may also not be taken into account in the proposed measures, in other words, it will be unprofitable for enterprises to purchase more expensive equipment, since the repayment of coupons will not cover the difference in cost. Moreover, the formation of increased demand can significantly increase the cost of this type of “Fixed Assets”.

Environmental safety issues are extremely important, so according to expert estimates, annual economic losses, excluding damage to human health, are estimated at 4-6% of GDP. In 2020, Russia's Gross Domestic Product is estimated at 116 trillion rubles, respectively, due to environmental problems, losses range from 4.6 to 6.9 trillion rubles annually. The formulated measures and methods for improving the environmental situation, based on trends from 2015 to 2019, allow us to conclude that the environmental situation in the country will not be significantly improved until 2024. Moreover, based on the report of the Accounting Chamber, for 2019 within the framework of the national Ecology project, the level of execution was 61.7%, which is one of the lowest. The allocated funds for the federal project “Introduction of the best available technologies” in 2019 were not implemented at all due to the lack of projects for the transition to the best available technologies.

Thus, in order to change the current environmental situation in the country, it is necessary to immediately apply more effective measures to switch to environmentally friendly technologies and reduce emissions, since the annual level of damage to the country exceeds the annual GDP growth. The proposed measures to repay coupon obligations of up to 90% for bonds of up to 30 billion rubles may be inappropriate in comparison with the annual amounts of investment in Fixed Assets of enterprises. As support measures, for companies engaged in mining, measures can be proposed to reduce the level of VAT and Income Tax to cover the costs of purchasing more technological equipment and compliance with technological standards that will reduce the level of waste emissions into the environment and reduce the level of harm to the environment.  Moreover, a number of measures are required aimed at the production of domestic equipment that will comply with international environmental norms and standards. Not only industry ministries and departments should be involved in the development and implementation of specific sectoral measures to protect the environment, but also the Subjects of the Federation, cities and municipalities, which in practice fully know the state of affairs with the environment in the region. In addition, it requires a special approach to ensure environmental safety in subsidized regions with low economic potential. Taking into account the high level of deterioration of the equipment, it is necessary that the regulatory authorities in the field of the environment restructure their work. By prioritizing the effectiveness of its activities not the number of scarves collected, which leads to even greater ruin of companies, but the prevention of violations in the sulfur ecology, which can lead to significant, various kinds of losses, loss of life.