"Each inspector monitors eight or ten mines, and even more mines in some regions," reads a statement.
"It should be mentioned that the professional level of inspectors remains relatively high, and the evidence is [that the rise in accidents is due to] the rise in monitoring rates per inspector," the regulator head said.
Khokhotva said he believed that certain measures should be taken to reduce the number of accidents at coalmines.
"To stabilize the situation, we must [increase] the number of inspectors in the coal mining regions, including in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Lviv," he said. Along with this, every large mine should have its own inspector, he said.