Abstract
Recent developments in the coal industry of the Donetsk coal basin (Donbass) of the Ukraine are appraised through separate analyses of the two major components of the industry - coking coal and energy coal. The two sectors have features in common, but in many respects exhibit different behaviour. Recent evidence indicates that the coal industry of the Ukraine has achieved almost full monopolization. The coking-coal sector was monopolized first and on-going monopolization of the energy-coal market can be witnessed at present. The main player in the coal market is the large financial-industrial group, which has successfully created solid, vertically integrated structures along the production chains coal-coke-metal and coal-power generation-electricity. These groups control both the markets for energy and the investment streams flowing into the industries. In the near future the grip of the large financial-industrial groups is unlikely to show any signs of weakening without strong government intervention.
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