Today in Verkhovna Rada the Party of Regions Leader Viktor Yanukovych held a meeting with the miners – trade union members who arrived in Parliament to participate in considering the draft law on rise in prestige of miner's labor.

Viktor Yanukovych listened to the miners' questions and gave extended answers on topics of their interest regarding the prospects of the coal industry development.



"We have always assumed the position in support of the coal industry development, and therefore we initiated the draft on rise in prestige of miner's labor", Leader of Party of Regions pointed out.

According to Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine consumes about 90 million tons of coal a year, and in the future the volumes of consumption will grow up to 110 million tons.

"We will build new mines, open new horizons and mining excavation, comprehensively support the work of existent mines, – the Party of Regions Leader said. – It requires not only money, which Ukraine has, but also political will of the country's decision makers, understanding that coal is the only domestic energy carrier which can diminish Ukraine's power dependence".

Answering the question how the closing of mines will be carried out, Viktor Yanukovych said that this process would be approached in a civilized manner, taking into account ecological norms and solving all social issues faced by the miners.

Regarding the question how privatization will be implemented in the coal industry, he said the following: "The miners' opinion on this matter should be considered. After agreeing the principles of privatization of coal industry units with the miners, the program and law on privatization of coal mines should be ratified. Only thereafter privatization can begin".

"There are no minor questions in the coal industry modernization, – Viktor Yanukovych said. – For example, nowadays many politicians argue against building modern coal storages. And do they know how many such coal storages are there in Donbass? So is Donbass a reservation? Naturally, transport infrastructure should be located close to large transport corridors, connected to ports, railways, etc. And at the same time we should think about not how to import coal into Ukraine but how to export it, to extract it in the necessary amount. If it needs to be sold we should be capable of doing it".

The Party of Regions Leader added that, certainly, coal should be of high quality.

"As I have already said, coal should be measured not by a ton, but by gigacalories. Then we will obtain quality and correct objective price", he marked.

Viktor Yanukovych also added that he had always argued against so-called restructuring of the coal industry because it was not restructuring but conscious annihilation of the coal industry and mines.