Ukraine may allow export of 100,000 tonnes of coal to Poland in Sep - Shmyhal

According to Ukrinform, Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported this on Telegram.

He said Ukraine, together with the European Union, is preparing for the most difficult winter in many years.

"On the instruction of the President of Ukraine, at the request of the Polish side, Ukraine is ready to consider the possibility of opening quotas for the export of coal to Poland. The issue concerns about 100,000 tonnes in September, which our Polish partners now critically need," Shmyhal wrote.

He added that coal reserves in Ukrainian warehouses make up almost two million tonnes, which is 2.5 times more than at this date last year, "so we are ready to support our Polish friends."

"Also, we are currently actively reconstructing a power transmission line from our Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant to the Polish substation in Rzeszow. We planned to finish it by December 14, but as we sped up the work, we can finish it a week earlier. This will allow us to export to Poland an additional 1,000 MW. For our part, we ask Poland to contribute to the expansion of export quotas within ENTSO-E," Shmyhal said.

According to him, Ukraine currently exports only 300 MW of electricity to the European power grid.

"We are doing everything possible so that by the end of 2022, the amount of available transmission capacity in the direction of Slovakia, Romania and Hungary could grow by another 200-300 MW, and in the direction of Poland - by more than 1,000 MW," Shmyhal said.

On September 9, at a joint press conference with Latvian President Egils Levits and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to help Poland overcome future energy risks and challenges.

On September 7, the Cabinet of Ministers completely banned exports of Ukrainian coal