EU’s abandonment of Russian coal to affect its members first — Russian Energy Minister

The decision of the European Union to cancel import of Russian coal will after its member-states in the first instance, Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov said, cited by the official Telegram channel of the Ministry.

“Decisions of countries to drop Russian coal will in the first instance have the material effect for them. It is rather challenging to substitute our coal at a time, taking its quality properties into account. Therefore, the transition will be lengthy at the least and, furthermore, coal prices will be much higher because of logistics,” the Minister said. Russian coal will be reoriented to alternative markets, Shulginov added.

The European Union earlier introduced the fifth package of sanctions, targeting Russian coal among other restrictions.

TASS