The state-owned mining company OKD will lose several hundred million crowns this year. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš told reporters after meeting with the companies management.
OKD had a profit of 1.3 billion crowns last year. This year’s loss is due to lower coal prices and the disaster last year at the ČSM Mine.
The government wants OKD to mine as long as possible, according to Babis. In 2020, it should increase by 300,000 tonnes to a total of 3.5 million tonnes of coal.
The company reported the loss at the end of November.
In 2018 OKD had a net profit of 1.29 billion crowns. In 2017 it was 3.4 billion. Last year, the company’s revenues fell from CZK 16.8 billion to CZK 13.8 billion. The volume of coal mined went down about a quarter of a million tons to 4.62 million tons.
The OKD mining company is the only producer of hard coal in the country. Today ended mining in the Lazy Mine in Orlov. Coal is still mined at Karviná in the ČSA, Darkov, ČSM-Sever and ČSM-Jih mines. However, other mines are also expected to decline gradually.
