Russia forces Kyiv to buy coal from the DPR and LPR
Moscow - Kyiv, November 27 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - Following the stoppage of Russian coal shipments to Ukraine, the almost successful attempt to establish electricity supplies may also fail. As a result, Kyiv continues secret negotiations on the purchase of coal from the DPR and LPR. But they agree to sell fuel only upon prepayment, writes Kommersant.
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Yesterday, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine allowed local companies to import 1,5 GW of electricity from the neighboring country. Energomerezha and Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK received permits; each can import up to 1,5 GW.
In addition, Ukrainian energy companies continue negotiations on the purchase of coal from the DPR and LPR, Kommersant learned. Previously, DPR FEC Minister Alexei Granovsky refused to sell coal to Ukraine: “There is a war going on, we cannot supply coal to those who are shelling us,” the publication quotes him as saying. But the DPR authorities threw Granovsky into prison and on Tuesday the head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, told Kommersant: “The last time we negotiated supplies was literally in the morning. Our position is money in the morning, chairs in the evening. And these negotiations are ongoing.”
The fact of negotiations is confirmed by Kommersant’s source in the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine. They are run by Ukrainian companies, he explained, emphasizing that “the mines in the DPR and LPR are Ukrainian legal entities, there will be no problems with contracts, the main thing is to obtain permission for export from the persons controlling the republics.” Although officially the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine quotes the words of Yuri Prodan that it “does not conduct any negotiations on the purchase of coal with terrorists.”
Let us remind you that Ukraine previously tried to fill the energy shortage by purchasing coal from the Russian Federation, but on November 22, they also stopped. The main reason for stopping supplies is considered to be a “political decision” by Moscow, the purpose of which may be to encourage Kyiv to start purchasing coal from the DPR and LPR. According to the publication’s sources, freezing coal supplies may be “Russia’s response to the fact that Kyiv stopped social security in the territories of the DPR and LPR - the payment of pensions and benefits.”
Electricity supplies also quickly came into question, but at Kyiv’s initiative: Deputy Energy Minister Vadim Ulida, who signed the import permit, was fired yesterday. But it’s not just permits that limit imports: the National Electricity Regulatory Commission has been unable to agree on a tariff since September. If imports are more expensive than the wholesale market, Ukraine will have to subsidize the difference from the budget.
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