Russia exports 10 mln tonnes of coal a year to Ukraine, wants to keep market - Energy Ministry
MOSCOW. Aug 22 (Interfax) - Russia annually supplies about 10 million tonnes of coal to Ukraine and expects to retain that market, Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky told reporters.
"There are no restrictions on Russian coal supplies to Ukraine. We are interested in preserving this sales market. We supply 10 million tonnes a year, mainly coking coal," he said when asked for comment on the first shipment of U.S. coal to Ukraine.
Russia supplies coal to Ukraine under contracts between private companies.
"I don't think that this will prove to be significant. We supply coking coal to Ukraine for the steel industry. And Ukraine received energy coal from the LNR and DNR [the Lugansk and Donetsk people's republics respectively]. Now they are in a state of power starvation; they themselves imposed a blockade on supply of coal from there. They have to compensate that with supplies from other countries," he said, adding that the coal from the U.S. is energy coal, which Russia has never supplied to Ukraine.
Xcoal Energy & Resources (U.S.) made a first shipment of anthracite coal for Ukraine's PJSC Tsentrenergo, from Baltimore to Yuzhny, Ukraine's Ambassador in the U.S. Valeriy Chaly reported on Tuesday. Tsentrenergo concluded a contract with Xcoal Energy & Resources on supply of about 700,000 tonnes of anthracite coal until the end of 2017. The price under the contract is variable; it is $113 per tonne for the first shipment.