You're reading: DTEK, Svoboda to discuss conflict around Chervony Partyzan mine on Monday

The leadership of Ukraine's largest private vertically integrated energy holding DTEK and representatives of the Svoboda All-Ukrainian Union, who are picketing the holding's office, agreed to discuss on Monday the conflict around Chervony Partyzan coalmine (Luhansk region) as a part of a meeting of a working group set up by Luhansk Regional State Administration.

External Relations Director at DTEK Oleksandr Tolkach told this to Interfax-Ukraine.

“People, including lawmakers, came to our office today. The company’s leadership met with them. A constructive dialog took place. The current situation has been explained, in particular that no layoffs have been planned [at Chervony Partyzan coalmine]. We have explained everything that is going on at the enterprise and agreed to continue the constructive dialog in Luhansk region on Monday, when the governor’s working group will start its work,” he said.

According to Tolkach, representatives of the regional administration, DTEK, Chervony Partyzan coalmine, and the DTEK Sverdlovantracit, which runs the mine, will take part in the meeting.

In turn, MP Ihor Shvaika of the Svoboda Party told the agency that on Saturday he would visit Luhansk region to have a closer look at the situation at Chervony Partyzan mine, would question coalminers and representatives of trade unions.

“Tomorrow [January 12], I will be in Luhansk region, will talk with coalminers, representatives of trade unions… What we have agreed with the DTEK leadership, if we can call it an agreement, is to meet on Monday in the frames of a working group under Luhansk Regional State Administration, where we will again raise and discuss all the matters,” he said.

As reported, around 20 activists of the Svoboda All-Ukrainian Union picketed the office of DTEK – at the Parus business center in Kyiv, demanding that it meet all of the demands of the members of the Independent Trade Union of Sverdlovsk.

A group of 12 miners of Chervony Partyzan coalmine seized the office of the coalmine’s director on January 10 in order to put forward their demands to the owner of DTEK energy holding, Rinat Akhmetov, and Luhansk region Governor Volodymyr Prystiuk.

The miners that seized the coalmine director’s office demanded that DTEK Sverdlovantracit’s head cancel an instruction to change the enterprise’s form of organization. According to them, the implementation of the instruction may result in mass layoffs.

In addition, the miners demanded annual bonuses for DTEK Sverdlovantracit’s employees. They also want the actual time during which they work every day – nine to ten and a half hours – to count as labor hours.

In turn, DTEK stated it did not plan to dismiss employees of DTEK Sverdlovantracit (Luhansk region) during the optimization of the company’s structure.

The holding also said that most representatives of the Independent Trade Union of Sverdlovsk, who seized the office of the mine’s director on Thursday, were not employees of this enterprise and could not represent the interests of the workforce.

On the night of January 10 to January 11 the protesters left the director’s office and met with Luhansk region Governor Volodymyr Prystiuk in the morning.