Coal Deliveries From Russia to Ukraine Suspended: Energy Ministry

KIEV, November 24 (Sputnik) — Coal deliveries from Russia to Ukraine have been suspended, the Ukrainian energy ministry said Monday with no explanation for the reasons behind the move.

"According to the information submitted to the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine by [power generating companies] Centrenergo and DTEK, coal supplies from Russia have been suspended," Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan was quoted as saying by his spokeswoman on Facebook.

"I'm not sure about the reasons but can say for sure that they are not [of] economic [character]. Both DTEK and Centrenergo pay for their coal in time," Prodan added.

In mid-November, Ukrainian Centrenergo said that Russian companies would supply it with more than 500,000 tons of coal before the end of 2014. Earlier, RIA Novosti's energy sphere sources said that Russian Kuzbassrazrezugol (KRU) had been delivering coal to Ukraine since summer.

Ukraine is currently facing a shortage of coal as a result of the Kiev-led operation against the independence supporters of Donbas, the coal mining region in the east of Ukraine.

In August, the Ukrainian government reached an agreement with British Steel Mont Trading to buy a million tons of coal from South Africa. However, after Ukraine's Prosecutor General opened an embezzlement case over the high cost of the coal, the trading reduced coal shipments to 500,000 tons fearing threats to its reputation.

On November 12, Prodan stated that Ukraine currently has about 1.7 million tons of coal which is not enough for the winter period. This leaves Kiev with just two options: to purchase coal either from Russia or from Donbas. Earlier in November the authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine suspended talks on coal sales to Kiev until all conditions of the agreed ceasefire were fully met.