MILAN, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine has asked Poland for free provision of coal for the country's power plants, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday in Milan, where a working breakfast involving Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko and a number of key EU leaders was held.
"Ukrainians asked for Polish coal. They do not have enough coal to produce electricity. And then they told the Poles that it would have been good to rent this coal for free. So take a look... on the reaction of the Poles."
Earlier in October, Polish Senate Speaker Bogdan Borusewicz said as his country has large reserves of coal, it could work together with Ukraine to help it cover the lack of coal.
As a result of the Kiev-led military operation in Ukraine’s southeast, much of the country’s coal supplies have been disrupted. According to statistics from the Russian Academy of Sciences Energy Research Institute (ERI RAS), out of the 90 mines that were operating in eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk before the conflict, only 20 are currently functioning. In addition, the destruction of railroads has significantly disrupted coal transit.
