Kompania Pleads for Polish Utilities to Rescue Coal Mines

Kompania Weglowa SA, the European Union’s largest coal producer, faces massive job cuts to survive unless Poland quickens the state-owned industry’s revamp, which may include help from power utilities.

“If we want to quickly heal Kompania, we should shut five mines and fire 15,000 people,” Chief Executive Officer Miroslaw Taras said at an industry summit in Katowice, Poland today. “But if we want to avoid social unrest, we should probably think about somehow combining coal mining with power generation either by means of agreed prices or takeovers of some mines.”