Trump’s coal deal warms up relationship with Ukraine regime

KIEV: For the first time in Ukraine’s history, United States anthracite is helping to keep the lights on and the heating going this winter following a deal that has also helped to warm Kiev’s relations with President Donald Trump.

The Ukrainian stateowned company that imported the coal said the deal made commercial sense. But it was also politically expedient, according to a person involved in the talks on the agreement and power industry insiders.

On Trump’s side it provided muchneeded orders for a coalproducing region of the United States which was a vital constituency in his 2016 presidential election victory.

On the Ukrainian side, the deal helped to win favour with the White House, whose support Kiev needs in its conflict with Russia, as well as opening up a new source of coal at a time when its traditional supplies are disrupted.

Trump’s campaign call to improve relations with the Kremlin alarmed the proWestern leadership in Ukraine, which lost Crimea to Russia in 2014 and is still fighting proMoscow separatists.

However, things looked up when President Petro Poroshenko visited the White House on June 20 last year.

‘‘The meeting with Trump was a key point, a milestone,’’ a Ukrainian government source said, requesting anonymity.

The Americans had set particular store by supplying coal to Ukraine.

‘‘I felt that for them it is important,’’ said the source, who was present at the talks that also included a session with Vicepresident Mike Pence.

Despite Trump’s incentives, US utilities are shutting coalfired plants and shifting to gas, wind and solar power. Ailing US mining companies are therefore boosting exports to Asia and seeking new buyers among eastern European countries trying to diversify from Russian supplies.

Ukraine was once a major producer of anthracite, a coal used in power generation, but it has faced a shortage in recent winters as it lost control of almost all its mines in eastern areas to the separatists.

Along with South Africa, Ukrainianowned mines in Russia have been the main source of anthracite imports but this is fraught with uncertainty.

In the past Moscow has cut off gas supplies to the country over disputes with Kiev, while neighbouring Poland, which Trump visited in July, is also turning increasingly to United States coal. Its imports jumped fivefold last year to 839,000 tonnes. — Reuters