site.btaIn Its First Ever Export, Maritsa East Mines to Sell 1.75 Mln T of Coal to Serbia

The Maritsa East mines will export 1.75 million tonnes of coal to Serbia over a year under what is the first ever export deal for the 70-year-old mining company, CEO Ilza Chinkova said Wednesday. The export contract was signed June 17 with a Serbian company, Virom Group, which will supply two power plants near Belgrade with the Bulgarian coal.

Chinkova said that the export of Bulgarian lignite coal was unthinkable until recently, especially on the backdrop of the bleak forecast for impending closure of the mining company.

She also said that the export contract will not affect supplies to the coal-fuelled power plants in the Maritsa East energy complex.

The first coal batch will be shipped for Serbia in the coming days via the ports of Russe and Svishtov, on the Danube.

The two Belgrade power plants provide electricity to nearly half of Serbia but has been experiencing problems with fuel supply for several years now after the Kolubara mine was flooded. Before the deal with Maritsa East mines, the power plants bought coal from Romania and North Macedonia.

The contract with Virom Group expires on April 30 next year. The price in it is just over 9% higher than the price at which the Maritsa East coal is sold to Bulgarian power plants.