Ukraine faces energy crisis after coal supply cut off

KIEV: Ukrainian authorities vowed on Thursday to restore coal supply from the separatist-held Donbass and warned that a blockade by activists could deprive millions of heating and electricity, harm the steel industry and cost the country some $2 billion.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the blocking of a railway link in the east by opposition lawmakers and army veterans who fought against separatist factions was a “destabilising factor”.

The European Union and the United States called for action to prevent “a major energy crisis”.

“Those responsible for the blockade must cease their actions and the authorities must address this problem as a matter of priority,” an EU spokesman said.

“We are concerned by the current disruption to the coal supply from the non-governmentcontrolled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk and its potential impact on Ukraine’s energy system, the Ukrainian economy, and the Ukrainian people”, the US Embassy to Ukraine said in a statement.

It called for a short-term solution to the crisis along with a “muchneeded reforms in the energy sector”. Ukraine’s power stations and steel mills buy coal produced by Ukrainian companies in separatistheld territory.

Activists behind the blockade call for a halt in this trade. They argue it enriches the oligarchs and fuels the conflict that broke out three years ago, after a pro-European uprising in Kiev ousted a Moscowbacked president. About 10,000 have been killed since.

The government is gearing up for the possible energy crisis, and Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman said on Wednesday he did not rule out planned rolling blackouts during peak hours.

Poroshenko called a meeting of the National Security and Defence Council on Thursday. “We will find the best way to lift the blockade,” he said.