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The Minister noted that 3 million tonnes of coal produced by state-run mines cannot cover wage costs.
The Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection has set for the near future a priority task of eliminating unprofitable state-owned mines, reprofiling miners, and creating new jobs for them, that's according to Minister Oleksiy Orzhel.
Speaking at a briefing on the two months of the ministry's work, Orzhel told of a "comprehensive program" worked out for each mine. "Unfortunately, there will be mines, which we have in our plan, that will have no prospects and should be eliminated."
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According to Orzhel, in Ukraine there are mines that have been in the process of liquidation for the past 18 years.
"We must find people new jobs and new opportunities for life. We will try to reprofile people. Certain arrangements have already been reached. I hope that as early as December, together with the World Bank, which has global experience in reforming the coal industry, we will launch the reform," he said.
The Minister noted that 3 million tonnes of coal produced by state-run mines cannot cover wage costs.
"The state coal industry is a loss-making industry. Some 32,000 people work in the industry, with families of about 200,000 people whose problems we must solve. We must determine at the audit level and build a logic of when these state assets could be privatized or leased out under strict investment obligations," he emphasized.
As UNIAN reported earlier, in October, the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection announced the search for mechanisms to remove the country's coal industry from the unprofitable state in which it has been staying for over ten years.
Also, the ministry launched an audit of state mines' performance.
On November 11, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky signed amendments to the law on the state budget for 2019, providing for the payment of wage arrears to miners worth UAH 1 billion.