Don't do that: "gray" miners steal electricity worth 10 billion rubles a year
Theft of electricity in Russia by "gray" miners has reached 10 billion rubles a year. In the regions of the North Caucasus Federal District alone, the official loss of Russian Grids for 2024 amounted to 424 million rubles, the company told Izvestia. In the Irkutsk region, "gray" miners owe more than 650 million in court decisions, En+ said. From January 1, 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers has banned cryptocurrency mining in more than ten regions until 2031. However, experts say the measure will not be effective, as it will affect legal businesses, while shadow miners will continue violations.
Rights and violations
"Gray" miners steal electricity in the Russian Federation for 10 billion rubles a year, this was told to "Izvestia" by Sergei Sasim, director of the Center for research in the electric power industry at the Institute of Economics and Regulation of Infrastructure Industries of the National Research University Higher School of Economics. According to him, cryptocurrency mining, which is carried out in violation of the rules, leads to a number of negative consequences: a decrease in the income of energy companies, an increase in the load on regional power systems, wear and tear of power grids, as well as fires and property damage.
- According to rough estimates, the total damage from such activities in Russia amounts to about 10 billion rubles annually," the expert noted.
Two Izvestia sources in the industry also confirm this estimate.
The press service of Rosseti told Izvestia that in 2023-2024, 72 illegal mining farms were detected in the regions of the North Caucasus Federal District (the area of responsibility of Rosseti North Caucasus), including 53 in Dagestan, four each in Stavropol Krai and Kabardino-Balkaria, three in North Ossetia, six in Ingushetia, and two in Karachay-Cherkessia.
- The total value of electricity stolen in 2024 amounted to 424.82 million rubles, of which 2.26 million rubles were reimbursed," the company said.
In 2023 and 2024, 12 facts of unaccounted electricity consumption by mining farms were revealed in Khakassia (in the area of responsibility of Khakasenergo, a branch of Rosseti Siberia). The amount of damage from unaccounted power consumption amounted to RUB 29.77 million. As a result of the measures taken, 9.71 million was reimbursed, the company added.
For all identified cases of electricity theft for the purpose of power supply to mining farms, the relevant materials are sent to territorial law enforcement agencies, administrative and criminal cases are initiated, Rosseti explained.
Shadow miners, without registering their business, install energy-intensive equipment in residential premises and garages, Izvestia wrote. It creates an excessive load on the energy system and carries potential risks of emergency shutdowns.
- When identifying mining farms, power engineers check the information received. In case of confirmation, the consumer is charged for the consumed electricity through the court, but at the tariff for industrial consumers, not at the preferential rate for the population," En+ told Izvestia.
Thus, over five years, 2.1 thousand lawsuits were sent to court against "gray" miners, the company noted. To date, the court has satisfied 1.35 thousand claims, 400 more are under consideration. According to the court decisions, miners owe more than 650 million rubles, the company added.
Mining is a very energy-intensive sphere, so when a lot of such market participants avalanche into the energy system, the risk of power shortages increases many times, said the Ministry of Energy.
- In addition, mining today can not be considered as an "anchor consumer", as such enterprises can both quickly deploy their activities and curtail them in case of unfavorable market conditions. Mining of digital currency is an important industry in the future, which is officially regulated from 2024. Its prohibition in certain regions is explained by the risk of energy shortages. Until additional generating capacities are created in such subjects due to possible negative consequences for the population, it is inexpedient to allow the production of electronic currency in them," the ministry explained to Izvestia.
At the same time, in general, regulatory measures in the field of mining are an important step aimed not only at strengthening energy security, but also at transforming the production of digital currency into an independent branch of the economy, the ministry concluded.
Forbidden business
On December 24, 2024, the Russian government approved a list of 13 regions and territories of the country, where a ban on mining activities will be imposed from January 1, 2025. It will be in effect until March 15, 2031. We are talking about Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Chechnya, Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
Cryptocurrency mining is also prohibited in some territories of the Irkutsk region, Buryatia and Zabaikalsky Krai. Restrictions for them will be in effect during energy consumption peaks: in 2025 - from January 1 to March 15, in subsequent years - from November 15 to March 15.
En+ believes that the adopted restrictive measures relate to the sphere of legal cryptocurrency mining, so the ban will in no way affect the volume of illegal mining. Moreover, along with the ban on "white" mining, the probability of legal business moving to the "gray" zone increases, the company said.
- It is necessary to introduce a ban on the placement of such farms and special equipment in the residential sector, as well as to provide for certain administrative and criminal penalties. However, as practice shows, bans do not always lead to a reduction in this or that activity, and often even lead to its growth," En+ said.
The only effective mechanism to combat "gray" mining is to worsen the economic efficiency of such activities, and this can only be achieved by increasing the tariff. It is because of its extremely low level for the population that Irkutsk region has become the "capital" of "gray" mining in Russia, they added.
Within the law
The head of the State Duma Energy Committee, Nikolai Shulginov, said earlier that the law adopted in 2024 to ban cryptocurrency mining in some regions of Russia may not solve the main problems, "gray" schemes may be preserved. He explained that it is very difficult to catch shadow miners by the hand.
- You won't be able to administer the process, how to find them all, determine where the miner is and where he is not. There are no tools, how to catch this equipment, how to distinguish it, - said Nikolai Shulginov.
Today, there are serious difficulties in detecting the facts of mining, illegal "businessmen" disguise their activities in every possible way - under the heating of premises with heat guns, cowsheds - and even hide under the ground, told "Izvestia" deputy chairman of the national council of the association "Reliable Partner" Andrei Romanchuk. In fact, "gray" mining falls under Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Causing property damage by deceit or breach of trust"), but bringing to responsibility is complicated by a number of qualifying features and the difficulty of detecting violations, he noted.
According to him, today law enforcers can only prosecute a violator who caused damage of more than 1 million rubles, so it would be logical to reduce this amount.
ROSSETI believes that within the framework of bringing to administrative responsibility under Article 7.19 of the CAO RF ("Unauthorized connection and use of electric power") it is necessary to consider the possibility of including this article at the legislative level in the list under which Article 7.19 of the CAO RF ("Unauthorized connection and use of electric power"). 4.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses provides for a one-year limitation period for bringing to administrative responsibility instead of the existing 90 calendar days, as well as to increase the amount of the administrative fine under this article.
It is also advisable to provide in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for criminal liability for unauthorized connection to power grids for persons who have been twice subjected to administrative punishment for a similar offense, the company's press service added.
However, Sergei Sasim, director of the Center for Research in the Electric Power Industry at the Institute for Economic Research and Development of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, believes that banning mining activities in the regions without taking into account market conditions will not have the desired effect, as some participants will go into the shadows and continue to work illegally.
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