REUTERS
Ukraine will be able to give up on anthracite coal as early as 2019, replacing it with gas group coal, Ukraine's Energy and Coal Industry Minister Ihor Nasalyk told a government meeting Wednesday, Ekonomichna Pravda reports.
"The anthracite group [will be] completely replaced by the gas group, that is, we plan that we will become completely independent of anthracites in 2019. Of course, the concept is aimed at our own production of gas group coal," Nasalyk said.
According to him, Ukraine will burn 7 million tonnes of anthracite coal in 2017 against 10.6 million tonnes in 2016.
Read alsoUkraine steps closer toward adopting Energy Strategy until 2035"Our goal is to increase coal production with the simultaneous transfer of mines to a fully self-supporting mode, as well as to solve environmental and social problems. Today, all [state-owned] mines are unprofitable," Nasalyk added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on May 24, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Strategy for the development of the coal mining industry, which provides for an increase in coal production at state mines with their simultaneous transfer to non-subsidized operations.