Ukraine allows state firm to import power from Russia

A man and a child walk in the snow at the destroyed war memorial at Savur-Mohyla, a hill east of the city of Donetsk, December 7, 2014. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's government has allowed state energy company Ukrinterenergo to import electricity from Russia to cover current power shortages caused by a lack of coal, the Ukrainian energy ministry said.

Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn last week said Ukraine had a shortfall in electrical power of more than 10 percent as separatist violence in the country's industrial eastern region has disrupted coal supply to power plants.