Due to the competitiveness of Russian coal, further growth of exports of coal from Russia is possible, mainly in view of increased supplies to China, India and South Korea. The Russian coal industry demonstrates resistance to the regime of international sanctions and continues to increase its exports of coal. The total annual revenues of enterprises in the industry are estimated at 14 billion USD. The main deterrent of its intensive development is the technological gap of the industry, lack of capacity of the railway and port infrastructure, and lack of investments in the development of industry.

According to the analysis of research conducted by the International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, regarding the impact of new generation of renewable energy technologies (on the base of Renewable Energy Sources, RES) on global geopolitics, as well as on selected regions and countries, we have identified the main trends of this process in the medium and long term.

The European Gas Conference on Promoting a Dialogue between the EU and its leading Gas Suppliers, organized by the Austrian Oil and Gas Company "OMV", was held in Vienna, Austria on January 28-30, 2019. The event was attended by representatives of the European Commission, experts from more than 200 world energy companies and government representatives of gas producing countries.

On January 25, 2019, the so-called "coal compromise" was reached  in Germany between representatives of government institutions, political forces, business and non-governmental organizations. It became a precedent  of an integrated approach in addressing complex political, economic and social issues surrounding the closure of the coal industry in Germany, as a result of commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement and the requirements of European legislation for reducing CO2 emissions.