Managing a portfolio of a digital transformation project in mining companies of the Russian Federation: a maturity assessment model and factors of economic performance
I.V. Trifonov1, N.Yu. Barkova1, E.V. Muzyukova1, E.Sh. Shaimieva2
1 Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russian Federation
2 Kazan Innovative University named after V.G. Timiryasov, Kazan, Russian Federation
Russian Mining Industry №4/ 2026 p. 74-82
Abstract: The study addresses transition from the point-wise digitalisation to integrated portfolio management of digital transformation (DT) projects in the Russian mining companies. The research relevance is driven by sectoral investment growth (RUB 4.2 to 7.4 bn over 2019–2024, +76.2%), the IT investment share rising from 1.7% to 2.5%, and a persistent gap between the investment and economic performance: 43% of companies report growing solution complexity and 40% – a shortage of competences. The hypothesis is that the DT portfolio performance is determined not by capital investment volume, but by the project management maturity across the portfolio, programme and project management, risk management and financial management. The objective is to justify the maturity assessment model and quantitatively identify the economic performance drivers for the top-10 Russian mining companies. The empirical base comprises 10 sustainability reports for 2019–2024, Rosstat IT-expenditure statistics, and Yakov & Partners / Zyfra industry surveys (130 respondents from 50 companies, 2023 and 2024). The methods include comparative analysis of P3M3, OPM3 and GOST R ISO 21500–2014, industry benchmarking, expert matrix assessment, regression modelling. The weighted-average maturity in the top-10 companies is 3.62 out of 5 (sd 0.49); the range is 2.90 (Raspadskaya) to 4.30 (Nornickel), with Polyus at 4.10; integrated solutions deliver a 10–15% OpEx reduction, an 8–12% productivity increase and a 25–30% cut in unplanned downtime at a 25.8-month payback; 81% of enterprises have implemented IoT-based safety systems, 72% – equipment monitoring; the maturity–ROI correlation is r = 0.827 (p < 0.01). A six-level M_ZT-Mining maturity model is proposed with differentiation across five domains and three project states (“pilot”, “upscaling”, “industrial operation”). Three critical gaps are identified, i.e. the portfolio risk management, the cross-project data integration, and the competence profile of the DT teams.
Keywords: project management, project portfolio, digital transformation, mining companies, maturity model, digital twins, Industry 4.0
For citation: Trifonov I.V., Barkova N.Yu., Muzyukova E.V., Shaimieva E.Sh. Managing a portfolio of a digital transformation project in mining companies of the Russian Federation: a maturity assessment model and factors of economic performance. Russian Mining Industry. 2026;(4):74–82. https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2026-4-74-82
Information about the article
Received: 08.03.2026
Received after peer review: 02.06.2026
Accepted: 15.06.2026
Information about the authors
Ivan V. Trifonov – Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Professor of the Department of General and Project Management, Faculty of “Higher School of Management”, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russian Federation; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3278-6197; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Natalia Yu. Barkova – Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor of the Department of General and Project Management, Faculty of “Higher School of Management”, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russian Federation; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6583-8950; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Elena V. Muzyukova – Associate Professor of the Department of Mathematics and Data Analysis, Faculty of Information Technology and Big Data Analysis, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russian Federation; https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5104-0078; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Elmira Sh. Shaimieva – Dr. Sci. (Econ.), Professor of the Department of Management, Kazan Innovative University named after V.G. Timiryasov, Kazan, Russian Federation; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9588-0199; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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