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“For me, it’s like a canary in a coal mine,” Suprun said. “When attacks against me get stronger, I take it that we’re doing something right.”
In early April, two days after the launch of the reform, the healthcare committee in Ukrainian parliament called for Sup- run to resign, claiming she had failed to uphold the 2016 procurement program. Suprun declined.
Resistance is real at other levels too.
As money will now be flowing directly from the state budget to the healthcare facilities, the reform calls for the closure
of regional departments that have, until now, been tasked with distributing the state budget to local hospitals, clinics and doctors. “So they are not the most enthusiasts about the reform,” Suprun acknowledged.
For doctors, and despite official prom- ises of higher salaries, anxiety in face of the scope of the reform is strong. Some aspects of the new legislation are largely welcomed, such as a drive to digitalize what remains a heavily paper-centric system thanks a brand new database called “e-Health.” Instead of thick stacks of papers, often hard to read and easy to
lose, all the information about a patient will be stored in an electronic database.
But even then, issues remain: back in Odessa, Bulatova is supposed to start registering patients electronically by early April. But in her small cabinet, there is no computer... and no internet connection. “The government promised to help us,” she said, “but so far there has been no support.” After years of battling to get a legislation voted, the actual implementation of the reform will likely prove no less of a struggle for Ukraine’s health reformers.
By and large, extractive industries domi- nated the profit rankings: the aggregate net profit of those industries was up 17.9% in 2017. And of the highly profit- able extractive Russian industries coal did best. Russian corporations involved in coal mining, and other related sectors, grew by a staggering 68% y/y in 2017, according to Rosstat.
Russia’s coal exports were up 13% last year to a post-Soviet all time high of 185.5mn tons worth $13.5bn. The grow- ing export numbers reflect increased rail and port capacity at Russia’s European and Asian coal terminals. At the same time, there is a strong demand for coal imports from both European and Asian buyers. With the unprecedented growth levels, Russia is now the world’s third largest coal exporter, surpassed only by Indonesia and Australia.
Beijing in need of coal
The growing demand for coal has been pushing the prices up. Since the begin- ning of 2016, the price has doubled, from $50 to $100 per tonne.
A major role in that process was played by recent reforms carried out in the world’s largest coal user and importer – China. The Chinese government has been on a mission to improve its air pollution levels and upgrade its fossil- fuel dominant energy structure by cutting coal consumption and boosting clean energy use.
Russia's coal exports soared in 2017
Russia’s coal industry is blooming
Filip Brokes
Russia’s corporate sector profits fell in 2017 by 8.7% year-on-year, according to Rosstat, which came as a surprise as the economy as a whole grew by 1.5%. Digging into the details it transpires that performance is extremely mixed. One of the biggest surprises is that Russia’s coal sector is a stand out perform- er and accounted for a disproportionate share of last year’s growth.
Coal is an old world commodity and not an obvious star performer in today’s world of nuclear power and renewable energy. But it is also one of those Russia has in spades and has been a big winner from the ruble devaluation. Russia itself is replete in cheap and clean gas and hydropower, but it continues to export significant amounts of coals to countries less well endowed with energy resources than itself.
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