KIEV, March 13 - Canada's EastCoal Inc. is dismissing 150 miners at Verticalnaya mine (Sverdlovsk, Luhansk region) and 250 miners at Menzhinsky mine (Pervomaisk, Luhansk region) due to the unfavorable situation on the coking and steam coal markets, the company reported.

"The decision will improve the economic situation at the enterprises, preventing their closure and retaining jobs for 600 employees at the Menzhinsky mine and 300 employees at the Verticalnaya mine," reads the report.

The company said that while in early 2012 the average price of coking coal was UAH 1,600 per ton, as of March 2013 it almost halved, to UAH 900 per ton. In addition, on the anthracite market there have been problems with sales of coal for a long period of time.