The governor of Donetsk region Alexander Kuts has discusses with the directors of mines, mayors of mine towns, representatives of power suppliers, Pension Fund, etc. what to do to make the state coal enterprises profitable.
“At present there are 15 state coalmining enterprises in the region. As of August 23 they have mined 1.3 million tons of coal. Almost all the enterprises are profitless. The total losses of their operation reach 520 million UAH. Even the increase of price of their coal and the state subsidies have not made any significant changes in the sphere”, the chairman of the regional administration said.
According to Kuts, since the start of the year the region has received 931.9 million UAH to pay salary to miners, up by 89% YoY. At the same time, the salary debts amount to 341.6 million.
“We have agreed that the mine directors will present their ideas on the industry development. If we are to optimize the number of mines, we have to provide miners with an alternative – either jobs at other mines, or mastering another profession with further job provision”, he added. (Ukrainian metal)