The coal supply situation is alarming
Ukraine has no choice but to buy coal in Russia or Donbass
Ukraine's Minister of Energy and Coalmining Yuriy Prodan on Wednesday said the country has no other solution, but to buy coal in Russia or war-torn eastern coalmining region of Donbass, where militias are controlling the situation.
“There are two ways to settle the situation: to buy deficit coal in Russia or in east Ukraine. There is a threat that we will not be able to live through autumn and winter,” the minister said.
“The Republic of South Africa already denied further coal supplies to us. No less than six weeks are needed to sign a new contract. We have no other solution, but to buy coal from Russian suppliers. The coal supply situation is alarming. Energy security of the country is under threat,” Prodan said.
“We have around 1.7 million tons of coal in stock. These reserves are insufficient. We have stabilised the situation slightly from the start of this month. For this month we succeeded to stock 80 thousand tons of coal. We expect the situation to deteriorate,” the minister added.
