DONETSK, October 22 (RIA Novosti) - The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic may begin the delivery of coal to Crimea later this week, the republic's Fuel and Energy Minister Alexei Granovsky said Wednesday.
"Respective agreements have been reached with Crimea. With winter approaching, Prime Minister [Alexander] Zakharchenko ordered not to delay this issue and to start coal deliveries to Crimea this week, before Friday," Granovsky said.
Earlier this week, Crimean Fuel and Energy Minister Sergei Yegorov said coal delivery negotiations with the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic were under way. Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov, in turn, instructed authorities to prevent unjustified price increases of coal. According to him, Crimea is ready to allocate money for coal purchase.
The amount and the price of coal to be shipped to Crimea were not disclosed.
The Donets Coal Basin, also known as the Donbas, is a coal mining region in eastern Ukraine. Since Kiev started its military operation there, Donbas coal production plunged and most companies are on the verge of closing.
