Turkey interested in acquisition of coal mines in Ukraine

Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Ihor Nasalyk says that Turkey is interested in the privatization of coal mines in Ukraine and is ready to invest in the development of the Ukrainian coal industry.
”We have had an interesting meeting with our Turkish partners today. Turkey is ready to provide necessary finance so that we could rebuild the sector. They are also ready to actively participate in the privatization of those coal mines we have taken a decision on,” the minister said while outlining his ministry`s plans for this year.
In his words, in addition to the coal mines that will be offered for sale, there is a group of coal production facilities that could start working without losses in 6-12 months, he said. In addition, five coal mines will be closed, he said.
The ministry plans to use all the budget funds allocated for the closure of unprofitable coal mines and will not redistribute the money to subsidize the mines, as it has done in the past few years.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Ukrainian authorities late in 2014 decided to close 32 unprofitable state-owned coal mines in 2015-2019 as part of the implementation of new energy independence policy. What is more, they decided to put up for sale those coal producers whose liquidation is inexpedient. Thirty-five coal mines were expected to be sold in 2015, however, they were not offered for sale. This year, the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry decided to sell all the coal enterprises, and those which will not be sold will be closed.
Most of state-owned coal mines operate at a loss due to a number of factors, namely depleted stocks, a complicated geological structure, old equipment. For years, Ukraine has spent budget funds on subsidies of state-run coal mines, thus reducing the selling price of their coal. This approach neither developed the coal industry nor helped accelerate its reform.

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