Mining industry’s financial health improving – Energy Minister

Krzysztof Tchórzewski, Poland’s Minister of Energy, said that EU funds have helped to improve the financial situation of the country’s mining industry. He was writing, on Tuesday, in response to an earlier question posed by another Polish PM. “The aid [for Poland’s mining sector] approved by the Commission [is] nearly PLN 8 billion, which will help in alleviating the situation. I believe that the understanding of the social side and the institutional creditors of the companies will move the sector on track as early as 2018,” he wrote. Tchórzewski claimed that, after the first 10 months of 2016, the industry had made up PLN 1 billion in shortfalls. “Already we observe the positive symptoms of operations. The financial result of the sector, after 10 months, improved by nearly PLN 1 billion,” he added. Neither the Ministry of Energy, nor the Ministry of Economy, have provided information on results for 2015 yet, which could be used as a reliable comparison. However, according to a report from the Central Statistical Office, an analysis of the net financial revenues of the coal mining sector for the period January-September 2015 showed that the industry was PLN 1.67 billion in debt during that time.