The Ministry's predecessor in the government of the USSR was the
Ministry of Energy and Electrification (Minenergo). The present Ministry still uses the Soviet-era "Minenergo" acronym. In May 2024, the Ministry made production statistics a state secret as a result of the Ukrainian destruction by drone of refineries which tactic was a result of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, known to Russians as the
Special Military Operation. Weekly fuel data from
Rosstat were impaired by this decision.
May 2025 coal industry bailout In December 2024 the Energy Minister announced that subsidies for coal miners would be developed "as soon as possible," because the
European Union sanctioned Russia over its
war in Ukraine, which
Vladimir Putin had begun in February 2022. The Moscow Times reported on 12 December that the coal industry faced "multibillion-dollar losses and risk mass bankruptcies".
Sergey Tsivilev said that Russia's chief coal-producing region, the
Kuzbass (portmanteau for "
Kuznetsk Basin"), which accounts for 60% of the country's hard coal and 80% of its coking coal output, was particularly victimized. Coal had accounted for nearly 40% of the Kuzbass region’s tax revenues. In January 2025 one report said that "Russia’s coal industry faces collapse due to sanctions". Coal companies posted a combined loss of $850 million over the first 10 months of 2024. Putin had to approve an emergency subsidy on 14 May 2025. "The crisis in the coal industry has become so severe that entire production facilities are being forced to shut down," a deputy minister told the
State Duma. Deputy Prime Minister
Alexander Novak waded into the morass on 25 April, calling for "high-level talks with China and India to abolish import duties on Russian coal." Novak proposed to absorb all the red ink by "restructuring or rehabilitating viable producers" through
VEB.RF, another branch of the Russian state, and to subsidize the transport of the commodity through the state-owned
Russian Railways. Putin approved the Novak bailout on 7 May.
Oil and gas investment needs double As the oil and gas industry of Russia matures will result in increased investment per metered output. The Ministry of Energy stated in May 2025 that the country needs to double its investment in order to maintain production at the level of 540 million tons. ==List of energy ministers==