Financial and economic mechanisms for reproduction of the human capital of the Russian mining industry under digital transformation

D.V. Kuznetsov, E.N. Gorbatenko, S.V. Petrov, S.V. Nikiforova, Sh.Z. Mehdiev
Vladimir Branch of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Vladimir, Russian Federation
Russian Mining Industry №4/ 2026 p. 203-211

Abstract: The study examines the financial and economic support of human capital reproduction in the Russian mining industry under digital transformation. Relevance: the estimated labour deficit grew from 35 to 68 thousand persons in 2020–2024; the average mining wage rose by 27% in Q1 2025 (the highest in the Russian economy); over 70% of the vacancies are concentrated in the Ural, Siberian, and Far Eastern Federal Districts. Hypothesis: the efficiency of reproduction is determined not by the volume of HR investments, but by the consistency of the “professional competence – financial and economic instrument” linkage on an 11 × 8 matrix. The objective is to justify a structural model based on the top-5 Russian mining companies in 2020–2024. Methods: comparative analysis, industry benchmarking, expert matrix assessment, factor and correlation analysis. The total top5 investments grew from RUB 14.8 to 24.8 billion (+67.6%); the matrix density coefficient reached 65.9 %; the leading instruments include the “corporate university / online education” (3.91) and “corporate training budget” (3.73); the lagging ones are the “grantbased NDA programmes” (1.45) and “Professionalitet” (Vocational training initiative) for vocational secondary education (2.00); the lowest competence maturity is the big-data analysts (2.13) and corporate-university lecturers (1.63). A three-level model is formulated with differentiated responsibility zones of the state, the industry, and the company; the following three critical gaps are identified, i.e. the digital competence training, secondary vocational education, and staffing of corporate education itself.

Keywords: mining industry, human capital, financial and economic mechanisms, digital transformation, Professionalitet (Vocational training initiative), corporate university, HR investment, maturity matrix

For citation: Kuznetsov D.V., Gorbatenko E.N., Petrov S.V., Nikiforova S.V., Mehdiev Sh.Z. Financial and economic mechanisms for reproduction of the human capital of the Russian mining industry under digital transformation. Russian Mining Industry. 2026;(4):203–211. https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2026-4-203-211

Information about the article

Received: 18.03.2026

Received after peer review: 28.05.2026

Accepted for publication: 11.06.2026

Information about the authors

Dmitry V. Kuznetsov – Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Economics and Finance, Vladimir Branch of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Vladimir, Russian Federation; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Elena N. Gorbatenko – Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Management, Business Informatics and Humanities, Vladimir Branch of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Vladimir, Russian Federation; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0745-2275; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sergey V. Petrov – Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Management, Business Informatics and Humanities, Vladimir Branch of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Vladimir, Russian Federation; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Svetlana V. Nikiforova – Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Management, Business Informatics and Humanities, Vladimir Branch of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Vladimir, Russian Federation; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5347-5400; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Shamsaddin Z. Mehdiev – Cand. Sci. (Ped.), Associate Professor, Vladimir Branch of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Vladimir, Russian Federation; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2280-7983; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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