Ukraine increases coal import costs

Ukraine in January-May 2019 increased by 1.3%, to $1.265 billion, expenditures to cover hard coal and anthracite imports, that's compared to January-May 2018, the State Fiscal Service reported.

According to the latest stats, over the reporting period, some 9.1 million tonnes of coal has been imported.

The largest suppliers remain Russia, the United States, and Kazakhstan.

Coal imports from Russia in monetary terms in January-May 2019 reached $812.3 million (64.2%), imports from the U.S. accounted for $379.5 million (30%), and from Kazakhstan – they stood at $53.6 million (4.24%).

Read alsoUkraine's Cabinet to allocate almost US$11 mln to pay off wage arrears to miners

As UNIAN reported earlier, hostilities in eastern Ukraine, which began in 2014, have caused a significant shortage of coal, primarily that of thermal anthracite group produced in militant-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. After this, Ukraine started buying coal abroad.

In 2015, coal imports were estimated at $1.632 billion. Russia, the United States and Kazakhstan were the largest suppliers.

In 2016, Ukraine reduced spending on coal imports by 10%, to $1.467 billion.

In 2017, spending on coal imports rose by 1.87 times, to $2.744 billion.