Russia will tighten the punishment for illegal mining

The government believes that the punishment for illegal connection to electric networks should be more strict, and expect more worked out from the Ministry of Energy.

The Russian government plans to tighten responsibility for violation of the ban on cryptocurrency mining. About this Writes The publication “Interfax” with reference to the results of the meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, at which the Ministry of Energy received an instruction to finalize regulatory documents on miners.

New fines and control

Earlier this year, the mincifers developed a bill according to which illegal miners are facing fines of up to 2 million rubles with confiscation of the extracted cryptocurrency. Now the authorities want to tighten responsibility and expand the list of punished acts. It will enter it:

• illegal connection to electric networks;
• theft of electricity;
• Violation of the prohibition on mining.

It is also proposed to introduce mandatory labeling and certification of equipment imported to Russia for cryptocurrency mining.

The Ministry of Energy was instructed to establish the fourth category of reliability of energy supply for miners – a special regime for energy -intensive consumers. It is assumed that they can be remotely disconnected from energy supply at any time during the peak loads and the threat of energy deficiency.

It is expected that the modified standards will be presented until the end of the current quarter, after which their phased implementation will begin in regions with current mining restrictions.

The results of the current restrictions

Since this year, in Russia there is a ban on cryptocurrency mining in a number of regions where the energy deficiency exists or is predicted. New measures are aimed at strengthening control over compliance with these restrictions and creating economic incentives to switch to legal work schemes.

According to the Ministry of Energy, the introduction of restrictions on the production of cryptocurrencies in Siberia reduced consumption by 320 MW, in the regions of the North Caucasus – by 50 MW. The released capacities were used to maintain stability in the heating season, which allowed to avoid overloads of electric networks.

However, the ban led to financial losses of energy companies. The Irkutsk electric grid company benefited about 800 million rubles in January-March 2025. The chairman of the Government of the Irkutsk region called the mining “drug for the economy” and “digital MMM”.

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