Issue of wage arrears to miners at Lvivvuhillia, Volynvuhillia resolved – Gerus

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's envoy to the Cabinet of Ministers Andriy Gerus says the issue of paying off wage arrears to miners at state-owned enterprises Lvivvuhillia (Lviv region) and Volynvuhillia (Volyn region) has actually been resolved, as the debt will be paid in the coming days.

"Already today, the state-run Lvivvuhillia will receive money for fuel [coal], the shipments of which to consumers have already begun. Today or maybe tomorrow as deadline, all debts to miners for February-April will be repaid in full," the presidential press service quoted Gerus as saying on June 18.

The official added that due to the president's instructions, the issue of wage arrears to miners at the said enterprises had actually been resolved.

As of the early June, the debt before miners for February-April of 2019 totaled UAH 216 million (US$8.2 million). The main reason is the lack of demand for coal, as well as non-transparent and non-market schemes in the industry.

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According to the presidential administration, the Finance Ministry allocated UAH 41 million ($1.6 million) to pay off the debt before the miners, while the remaining amount, about UAH 175 million ($6.6 million), came from non-budgetary funds obtained due to an increase in the efficiency of Ukraine's coal market.

"The president set a clear task: to put an end to corruption schemes in the coal industry. The main priority is timely payment for the miners' hard work," Gerus said.

The official noted that the situation at Volynvuhillia is also under control, where April wage arrears to 1,200 miners should also be fully paid off by June 20.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the national budget for 2019 provided for UAH 2.3 billion ($87.1 million) for the modernization of state-owned mines.

Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Ihor Nasalyk believes that UAH 2 billion ($75.7 million) in investment is required to take state-run mines out of unprofitability.

Permanent wage arrears to miners are a consequence of the difficult financial situation at the state-owned mines.