Officials in Kyrgyzstan discussed how to reduce the price of local coal, the State Committee of Industry, Energy and Subsoil Use reported.
Currently, four companies in two shifts are working at an open pit in Kara-Keche. Every day 4,500-5,000 tons of coal are mined. There is a checkpoint guarded by the police at the entrance. The driver receives the sequence number, the truck is weighed after loading on the electronic scales, and then, one more time, near the checkpoint.
“The main task is to provide Kyrgyzstan with domestic coal. Problems on the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border, when for almost two months we have not received coal from a neighboring country, have shown that we could safely live without imported fuel. The population was provided with it by local coalminers. There was no coal deficit, although speculative price growth has been observed for a while”, the head of the State Committee Ulan Ryskulov said.
According to him, it is necessary to reduce the cost of local coal. The cost of Kazakh coal is about $30 per ton, as it is directly delivered by rail. The cost of Kara-Keche coal is approaching $50, because it is transported by trucks. The construction of China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway will help reduce the price of fuel, the committee believes. (24.kg/Ukrainian metal)