The price of coal from the ATO zone for power generation companies corresponds to the Ukrainian one and there are no grounds to raise it, Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn has said.

"Each product has its price. We agreed to buy it for the same price at which we buy it from Ukrainian producers - it is UAH 1,100 plus VAT. As far as I understand the cost structure, at least half of the coal mined in the territory uncontrolled by Ukrainian authorities has the cost lower than this value," he said at a press conference in Kyiv.

According to him, "there is much coal, whose owners are ready to sell it at the current price" in the certain territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions uncontrolled by Ukrainian authorities.

"There are politicians who want to control the process, who say "we will not allow them to sell, we will blackmail you and put the price we want." But I see no reason for buying coal at an overestimated price," the minister added.