MOSCOW, 11 MaySergei Tsivilev, as the new head of the Russian Ministry of Energy, will pay active attention to the issues of rail transportation of coal and reorientation of the industry to Asian markets, Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University and the National Energy Security Fund, shared this opinion.
«» Tsivilev, of course, will focus on the coal industry. It is close and understandable to him. He understands what coal companies need to develop,» the agency's interlocutor commented, adding that now the Russian coal industry needs special attention due to the reorientation of exports to the east. 
Earlier on Saturday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin proposed appointing Kemerovo Region Governor Sergei Tsivilev as Minister of Energy. Prior to this, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation was headed by Nikolai Shulginov from November 2020.
“Now coal prices are falling following the price of gas, plus we have reformatted the sales markets. The regions most affected by the restructuring of the markets were Tuva and the Kemerovo region, because it is a long way to transport coal from there. Here Tsivilev will have to actively interact with Russian Railways and the Ministry of Transport. Therefore that most of the issues that concern the coal industry are transportation issues,” Yushkov said.
The expert suggests that the head of the Ministry of Energy, as before, may share areas of control with acting Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. “If Shulginov dealt with issues of heat and electricity, the same coal industry, then Novak was more involved in issues of the oil and gas sector, in particular fuel and the OPEC+ deal,” Yushkov explained. 
According to the agency's interlocutor, Tsivilev, like his predecessor, will inherit the coal industry, electric power industry and issues of preparation for the heating season. “Tsivilev will pay a lot of attention to the coal industry, and it needs this to remain profitable,” he believes.
Tsivilev was born in 1961 in the city of Zhdanov, Donetsk region. In 1983, he graduated with honors from the Black Sea Higher Naval School named after Nakhimov with a degree in Ship Armament. For more than six years he was the head of the Kemerovo region — Kuzbass. Tsivilev is connected with the energy sector by his long work in the coal mining region, as well as his long leadership of the Kolmar coal mining company.