MOSCOW, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- China and Russia are swapping loans for coal, with China furnishing $6 billion for increased coal supplies from Russia, an Energy Ministry official said.
Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky said the loans are being supplied with a Russian commitment to increase exports of coal to China.
China expects to import 15 million tons of coal from Russia by 2015 and to increase its purchases of Russian coal to at least 20 million tons through 2030, The Moscow Times reported Tuesday.
While rare for China to furnish loans for non-Chinese companies, Yanovsky did not identify the Russian firms that would receive the loans.
China is the world's largest coal consumer with 80 percent of its electricity coming from coal-fired plants. In addition, Russia and China have joined forces with an oil pipeline that should start delivering Russian oil to China early next year.
