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Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov's DTEK Energy has contracted 210,000 tonnes of coal from Poland for the upcoming winter period, the company said in a statement, with the first shipments expected this week.

"The additional volumes of imported fuel will provide a safety net and an extra margin of safety for the thermal generation to go through the upcoming heating season more steadily," DTEK Energy CEO Ildar Saleev was quoted as saying.

The company says that its thermal power plants have increased electricity output by 28 percent over the past four months compared to the same period in 2023.

In August, when electricity consumption in Ukraine was at record levels for the summer, it increased by 35 percent.

That month, the power plants burned more coal than expected due to the heat. As a result, stocks at all thermal power plants in Ukraine have decreased and now stand at around 1.35 million tonnes.

Before the last heating season, the country had 2 million tonnes of coal in its warehouses, and only 1.2 million tonnes by the season’s end.

Since September 2022, Ukraine has banned coal exports.