Wikipedia
Arktikugol (, literally "Arctic Coal"' full name Федеральное государственное унитарное предприятие is a Russian coal mining unitary enterprise which operates on the islands of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. Owned by the Government of Russia, Arktikugol currently has limited mining in Barentsburg. Previously it has carried out mining operations and still owns the towns of Pyramiden and Grumant, with its port at Colesbukta. The company is headquartered in Moscow and is the official agency through which Russia, and previously the Soviet Union, exercised its Svalbard policy.
The company was established on 7 October 1931 to take over all Soviet mining interests on Svalbard. At the time Grumant and Pyramiden were bought, although only Grumant was in operation. It also bought Barentsburg from Dutch interests. The company retained operation there and in Grumant until 1941, when all employees were evacuated to the mainland as part of Operation Gauntlet. Mining resumed in 1947 and commenced in Pyramiden in 1955. Declining coal deposits resulted in Grumant being closed in 1961. Throughout the 1960s to 80s Arktikugol carried out a series of oil drilling on the archipelago, but never succeeded at finding profitable reservoirs. From the 1990s the company lost a lot of its subsidies and cut production, resulting in Pyramiden being closed in 1998. The company has attempted to diversify, without success.