OREANDA-NEWS. September 22, 2008. The Trade Union of Coal Industry Workers considers the volumes of the coal industry’s financing plan, proposed by the Cabinet of Ministers in the governmental draft state budget for 2009 no.3000 of 15th September understated, commented Viktor Turmanov, the Chairman of the Trade Union of Coal Industry Workers in the course of the 3rd meeting of the trade union in Kyiv.

According to Turmanov, the government is implementing a policy of reduction of the finance budget for the industry.

‘As a matter of fact, the draft state budget for 2009 also envisages a reduction in budget finance for the coal industry under a number of its main programmes, compared to the budget of the current year’, says the draft communication from the trade union.

The trade union considers that the growth of financial expenditures for the industry in 2009, declared by the Cabinet of Ministers, is fictitious and has been achieved through the inclusion of UAH 7.562 billion for the retirement costs of miners into the total cost, which was earlier envisaged in the pension fund.

‘The amount of costs for the coal industry... UAH 13.735 billion... has been achieved through the inclusion of UAH 7.562 billion of costs for pensions of miners, which before were always made through the pension fund. Such manipulations with the budget are being made for the first time’, considers the trade union.

In connection with this, the trade union intends to make a statement about the need to increase the expenditure side of the 2009 state budget for the coal industry and address it to the President, Viktor Yushchenko, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Arseniy Yatseniuk, and the Cabinet of Ministers.

Particularly, the coal miners’ trade union believes that it is necessary to additionally allocate UAH 1.847 billion for the implementation of the Law ‘On Improvement of the Miners’ Labour Prestige’; UAH 3.08 billion for state support of the construction, technical re-equipment and major overhaul of mining equipment as well as UAH 0.4 billion for labour safety.

According to earlier information of the agency, pursuant to the annex ‘Information’ of the draft law no.3000 ‘On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2009’ presented by the Cabinet of Ministers on 15 September, the government proposes to the parliament to make a provision of UAH 14.8 billion in the state budget for 2009 for the development of the coal industry.

UAH 6.2 billion of that amount is planned to be allocated for the support and development of coal production companies and UAH 8.6 billion for the implementation of the law ‘On Improvement of the Miners’ Labour Prestige’.