OREANDA-NEWS.  DTEK decided to suspend mining operations at its six coal companies in Luhansk region for the period of active hostilities for the sake of employees’ safety. Despite the complications, the company will continue uninterrupted electricity supplies to consumers to ensure the stable operation of Ukraine’s energy system.

DTEK has enough coal to satisfy internal demand and perform its obligations under coal export contracts in full. The company developed alternative logistics arrangements for coal supplies. As of 10 July 2014, DTEK’s thermal power plants have about 2 million tons of coal stocks (60% of their overall capacity), and more than 700,000 tons of coal are in storage at the company’s mines and processing plants. The total amount of saleable coal stocks is 2.7 million tons.

DTEK exports coal mined by its companies located in Rostov (Russian Federation) and Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) regions. In the first quarter of 2014, DTEK exported 692,400 tons of coal to Europe and Asia. In 1H 2014, DTEK’s coal companies in Rostov and Dnipropetrovsk regions increased their output by 1.3 million tons year-on-year to 10.3 million tons.
 
As we reported earlier, on 10 July at 5:40 p.m. a bus taking miners of DTEK Chervonopartyzanske’s mine group to work came under mortar and artillery fire. As a result, more than 20 people were injured and several people were killed. DTEK expresses sincere condolences to the families of the victims. To prevent similar situations in the future, the company decided to suspend operations at its four coal mines and two processing plants in Luhansk region. The mine Chervonyi Partyzan and the Chervonopartyzanska coal processing plant (Chervonopartyzanske mine group) and the mines 71 Industriia, 1-2 Rovenkivska, Lughanska and the Rovenkivska coal processing plant (Rovenkivske mine group) have been switched into a special mode of operation to conduct only measures required to maintain key processes. The companies will resume their operation as soon as active hostilities cease.