Volodymyr Groysman: The target of reforming the coal industry is to get rid of coal import and modernize mines
The purpose of
retrofitting state coal mines, encapsulated
in the adopted
Government's Energy Strategy, is to
modernize mines, to provide the
state with its own coal
at a balanced cost, and to
ensure that miners have job
and salary. This was claimed
by Prime Minister of Ukraine
Volodymyr Groysman during A Question Time for the
Government at the Verkhovna Rada
of Ukraine.
"We are
a country that has to provide
itself with all the components,
including coal. Our task is
to stop the
import of coal, but this
takes time," emphasized the Prime Minister, "Private mines extract
coal with normal cost price,
and in state
mines, which are not upgraded
and are in
poor condition, people have no
means of protection."
The Head of
Government stressed that the country
should invest in the modernization
of mines and labor safety
of miners, as well as
to calculate the possibility
of selling mines and to attract new owners
to coal enterprises.
"We need
to learn how to extract
gas and coal,
to increase capabilities as well as to
do everything we can in
order to become an energy
supplier," underscored
the Prime Minister.