REUTERS
Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn says his ministry would like to involve the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country's major lender, in reform of the country's coal industry, which has been left without direct budget subsidies for more than a year already.
"I have recently met with IMF representatives. They are aware of the problem [with Ukraine's coal industry]. We've agreed to meet soon. I'd like them to [launch] a separate, direct – not budget-sustained – targeted program for the reorganization, reform of the coal industry," the minister said.
"If they don't agree, perhaps, they could somehow delegate this function to the EBRD [the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development] or the World Bank," he added.
According to Demchyshyn, the government is unable at the moment to subsidize the coal industry, which was earlier paid over UAH 10 billion in budget subsidies every year.
It should be noted that the IMF is not engaged in lending to separate sectors of economy.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Energy Minister Demchyshyn announced late in July 2015 that his ministry was considering the direct subsidizing of state-owned coal mines from the budget to cover a difference between coal production costs and the price this coal was sold at.