Ukrainian Coal Union not supporting discrimination of private coalmines in state orders sphere
Kyiv, May 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian Coal Union, which was created by a group of private coal companies, does not support the policy of the Ukrainian authorities in providing only state mines with state orders for coal, the union's president, Viktor Vyshnevetsky, has said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that coalmines created with great difficulty and restored with the help of private investment are on the verge of ruin due to artificially created administrative restrictions on sales of coal products to state energy companies – which are large consumers of power coal.
"This is not discrimination against the owners … of private coal companies. This is discrimination against the people working at these companies... The same miners work in the non-state sector as in the state sector, and they don't deserve to be treated as second-class people," Vyshnevetsky said.
He also said that with a surplus of coal products on the domestic market and the absence of state orders, private coalmines have to sell their products at a price half that of the production cost of the coal, which puts the operation of the mines under threat.
Vyshnevetsky noted that it takes at least two or three year to restore coalmines, which his company – Mekhanik scientific and industrial amalgamation – did, and the work done could be wasted.
"The process of creating a company stretches into years, [but] one can loose it in several months... We're not asking for any subsidies from the state – [just] give us a possibility to sell products on equal conditions," he said.
In turn, chairman of the Independent Trade Union of Ukrainian Coalminers Mykhailo Volynets, said that small and medium private mines are most vulnerable compared to state mines, and coal companies of vertically integrated companies that have chances to sell products to their companies.
Volynets also said that at a meeting on the overcoming of crisis in the coal sector, Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko gave instructions to buy coal not only from state coalmines, but also from private coal companies that operate legally on the market and pay taxes to the budget.
Chairman of the Trade Union of Coal Industry Workers Viktor Turmanov added that the state should not create artificial problems for private coalmines.
"In this situation equal conditions for everyone are needed," he said.
Currently, the Ukrainian Coal Union unites 22 private coal companies with around 10,000 workers. The forecasted coal production for the association for 2009 is estimated at 1.3 million tonnes of coal.