REUTERS
Head of Ukrmetalurhprom association Oleksandr Kalenkov at a special government meeting chaired by Ukraine's Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said that the blockade of coal supplies from the occupied areas of Donbas might result in at least a $3.5 billion loss of foreign exchange earnings at year-end.
"The consequences may be disastrous. Losses could reach $3.5 billion at year-end," Kalenkov said, emphasizing that not only metallurgists would experience the loss, but also all the related industries that use steel products.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on February 15 the Cabinet introduced emergency measures in the electricity market as a result of the blockade of deficit anthracite coal supplies to thermal power stations, initiated by ATO veterans. This also caused the revision of the electricity forecast balance, which was previously approved for the entire 2017.
Read alsoSteelmakers in occupied Donbas cease work due to trade blockade in Ukraine On February 21, Ukraine's Energy and Coal Ministry approved the forecast balance of electricity production and consumption for March, taking into account the emergency measures in the energy market.