The Cabinet of Ministers has instructed the Fuel and Energy Ministry and the Naftohaz Ukrainy national joint-stock company to ensure that natural gas is supplied to enterprises in the ore mining and metallurgical complex at a price equal to its import price plus the cost of transporting it until November 21.

This instruction is contained in the Cabinet of Ministers directive No. 1427-r dated November 10.

«Ensure supply of natural gas to enterprises of the ore mining and metallurgical complex at the prices stipulated in the intergovernmental agreement, taking into account the expenditures on its transportation on Ukrainian territory,» the directive states.

The Cabinet of Ministers also instructed the Finance Ministry and the Coal Industry Ministry to make provisions for increased state support for the coal mining industry because of the reduction of the prices of coking coal when drafting amendments to the state budget for 2008.

It instructed the Finance Ministry and the Economics Ministry to prepare draft laws on lowering the rate of the profit tax from 25% to 20% for enterprises in the ore mining and metallurgical complex, provided that they reinvest the amounts saved as a result of the tax reduction in acquisition of Group 3 capital assets (machinery and equipment) and establishing a period of five days for refund of value-added tax to exporters.

It instructed the Economics Ministry and Transport and Communications Ministry to draft proposals on reduction of freight tariffs for enterprises in the ore mining and metallurgical complex proportionately with the reduction in the metal prices for Ukrzaliznytsia (the state rail transport administration).

All these instructions are to be implemented by November 20.

The Cabinet of Ministers also instructed the Economics Ministry, the Industrial Policy Ministry, and the State Customs Service to tighten control over the prices of metal products being exported in order to prevent imposition of anti-dumping sanctions on Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Cabinet of Ministers, enterprises of the ore mining and metallurgical complex, and the trade unions in the steel industry signed a memorandum of understanding on November 10.

The memorandum stipulates that enterprises of the ore mining and metallurgical complex are to preserve the level of production that is necessary to avoid mass layoffs of workers and reduction of wages and that the government should not raise the prices of the services provided by state monopolies, grant a series of tax preferences to the enterprises, and facilitate refinancing of their bank loans.