Photo from UNIAN
Trade blockade in Donbas set up in late January is forcing Ukrainian companies to spend their currency earnings for coal imports from Russia, the country that launched military and economic aggression against Ukraine, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said during a special meeting with steelmakers.
The prime minister reminded that in the case when coal is delivered from Ukrainian mines to metallurgical enterprises registered in Ukraine, the production process remains uninterrupted, whereas sales revenue remains in the Ukrainian budget and the enterprises as reinvestment. However, if the Ukrainian coal is not supplied to these companies, they are forced to buy fuel in order not to halt production, which is often very difficult to recover. There are few sources of coal imports, including from the U.S. and Russia.
"That is, the trade blockade is forcing us to buy coal from Russia. There is patriotism and there is pseudo-patriotism. The latter is now being imposed on us. Last year, we were all engaged in restoring economic growth and welfare of Ukrainians. But now someone is trying to drop us back," said Groysman.
Read alsoGroysman: "Coal blockade" can't be used to blackmail, put pressure on UkraineEarlier, Head of Ukrmetalurhprom association Oleksandr Kalenkov said that the blockade of coal supplies from Donbas might result in at least a $3.5 billion loss.
As UNIAN reported earlier, fighting in the eastern regions of Ukraine has caused a significant shortage of coal, primarily that of thermal anthracite produced in militant-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Thus, the deficit of coal affects the operation of power plants, which have to reduce their capacity. In order to provide the smooth operation of the power grids, anthracite was imported from South Africa. However, the issue of coal shipments to thermal power plants critically arose after the launch of a blockade of trade with the occupied areas in late January 2017.
A group of Donbas war veterans and several members of Parliament initiated a blockade of rail tracks used to transport anthracite coal from the temporarily uncontrolled areas to Ukraine's thermal power stations.
The Ukrainian government reported the supplies stalled on February 10, 2017, posing a threat to smooth energy supplies to certain industries, including metallurgy, as well as to consumers in at least nine regions in Ukraine, where anthracite is used to generate heat and electricity for households.