OREANDA-NEWS. February 02, 2007. This year, Ukraine will launch the construction of the first private mine in Lviv region (West Ukraine), Coal Industry Minister Viktor Poltavets says, reported the Official website www.kmu.gov.ua.

"The mine will have high economic efficiency, and must serve as an example of building mines for implementation of future investment and government projects," the minister noted.

Not a single mine has opened in Ukraine over the independence period. In the course of 18 years, the country was unable to finish mine Novovolynska 10 (Volyn region, West Ukraine) with a capacity of a million tons of coal a year. Under expert estimates, the construction of a coal enterprise with a capacity of 1,5 million tons of coal a year and a depth of 600 - 700 meters costs about UAH 3 billion (UAH 5,05 / USD 1).