The coal imported from Africa does not burn at the Ukrainian thermal power plants at all. Let us recall that Kiev imports coal from South Africa to cover the shortage ahead of cold weather. Unfortunately, African coal turned out to be of inadequate quality and is unsuitable for the Ukrainian plants. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Vitaly Yarema says that Vladimir Zinevych, the head of Ukrinterenergo, is responsible for the corrupt deal as he approved the 25 mln contract with South Africa. Currently, the investigation is under the way and the exact amount of damage is to be figured out. Zinevich was detained by investigators over his involvment in the deal and was asked to come to court. However, senior official refused to do so citing his poor health. The number of people responsible for the collapse of the South Africa deal can be even more. A criminal case has been already initiated with the top management of Tsentrenergo as defendant. The investigators are sure that those involved knew about poor quality of coal. The coal-fired power plants, in particular Starobeshevskaya, Tripolskaya, and Zmievskaya, are controlled by Tsentrenergo. It seems that the authorities have overestimated the capabilities of the power plants hoping that coal of any quality can be burnt without any consequences.
