Ukraine does not plan to buy coal in South Africa through the end of the current heating season as there is no shortage of coal on the domestic market and coal stocks are enough, Energy and Coal Industry Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn has said.

"We would not [buy coal in South Africa] through the end of this hearing season for sure," the minister told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday.

On February 7, a bulk cargo ship with 79,000 tonnes steam coal from South Africa was anchored at Yuzhny port (Odesa region). The previous batch of 168,000 tonnes was shipped to the port on December 5, 2015.

The coal is shipped under a bilateral agreement with Mercuria Energy Trading SA (Switzerland), which was signed late in September 2015.

Ukraine saw a 69% fall in imports of steam coal from Russia in 2015, diving to 628,000 tonnes. Imports of steam coal from South Africa soared by 2.4 times in 2015, reaching 897,000 tonnes.

The ministry said that demand on steam coal in 2015 fell by 35%, from 38 million tonnes to 27 million tonnes.

Coal stocks at thermal power plants as of February 8, 2015 reached 2.218 million tonnes, including 869,000 tonnes of anthracite coal and 1.349 million tonnes of gas and long-flame coal.