Ukrainian company PJSC "Centrenergo" announced on Monday, July 31, the conclusion of a contract with American XCoal Energy & Resources for supplying Ukraine with anthracite coal from the United States. It is said about commitment to buy about 700 thousand tons of coal by the end of this year. The price for the first batch of 85,000 tons that will arrive in early September will be $113 per tonne, but may be further changed, in particular, and towards reduction. The US Embassy has already named the signing of the agreement as an "important step for energy security" of Ukraine.
A high quality
All surveyed DW experts note - there is no doubts in quality of American coal. Andrii Chubyk, head of the energy research program of the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”, explains that western companies are complying with strict standards regarding the key parameters of anthracite coal - ash and sulfur content. Considering these parametres, American coal is even better than that is usually used in Ukraine. Director of Energy Research Center Olexander Kharchenko adds: the quality of fuel offered by Americans is too high for Ukrainian power plants. "Because of this, the supplier is actually forced to make a mix of its coal and certain categories of siftings in order to tailor it to our needs," Kharchenko said.
However, Chubyk adds - the design features of the Ukrainian power plants, which were planned for acceptable anthracite from the Donbass, do not mean that the American coal is not suitable for the Ukrainian side. Chubyk's opinion is supported by the president of the Centre for Global Studies "Strategy XXI" Mykhailo Gonchar. "Probably, people who are interested in selling fuel from the occupied territories and Russia will continue to say that American anthracite does not burn in Ukrainian stoves, but we remember that the same was told about coal from South Africa, which then quickly disappeared in these stoves", - the expert says ironically.
Dear satisfaction
As for the price of the first batch of coal from the United States, all experts agree that it is relatively high for the Ukrainian market. However, Mykhailo Gonchar notes that the price argument would be relevant not in the context of the war with Russia. In his opinion, the highest possible diversification of coal supplies, on which Kyiv now depends on Moscow, is an issue of energy security. Chubyk agrees with this, according to him, the Russian Federation may at any time stop the flow of coal to Ukraine not only from its own territory and the Donbass, but also, for example, from Kazakhstan. "Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the price not only in terms of market benefits, but also in terms of security and geopolitical realities," the expert explains.
Olexander Kharchenko adds that purchase of American coal could be an additional argument in establishing relations between Kyiv and Washington, because the resurgence of the American coal industry was one of the promises of US President Donald Trump. However, in the context of the crisis, in which, according to the expert, this industry is now in the United States, Ukraine could get much more favorable conditions for itself. But the Ukrainian government, Kharchenko said, has done everything from the very beginning to prevent this from happening. Instead of holding auctions, the Ukrainian side, apparently, simply agreed to the highest price Americans decided to offer, Kharchenko said.
Author Alexander Golubov
