Employees of three leased mining enterprises of the Donetsk Oblast are picketing the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. They demand that the Coal of Ukraine state-owned company accept the coal, which is produced by mines that are not subject to the Coal Ministry of Ukraine.
According to the press-service of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, the miners also demand to give their enterprises additional quotas on shipping coal to the Coal of Ukraine.
900 miners from Chapayeva Mining Department leased enterprise, Zhdanivska Mine close corporation, and Svitanok Ltd., take part in the protest action, which started at 9.30 at the Verkhovna Rada building.
The action was initiated and organized by the Trade Union of Coal Industry Employees.
According to trade union head Victor Turmanov, each of the mines pays taxes on time and replenishes the state budget by 750-900 thousand hryvnias every month. According to him, at the same time, due to the discriminating policy of the Coal of Ukraine concerning the mines that are not state-owned, the mines may be closed, more than 4.5 thousand miners may lose their workplaces.
“Just to pay salaries to employees, to pay off utility debts, to pay for the lease, to pay taxes, we need to sell 60 thousand tons of coal every month. However, presently the Coal of Ukraine accepts from, for instance, Chapayeva Mining Department, only 2.5 thousand tons of production. As a result, we have money enough just to pay for the electricity consumed during a month”, he said.
Miners arrived in Kyiv by 22 buses and have intent to continue their protest action until the government fulfills their demands.
