LUHANSK, March 29 - President Viktor Yushchenko said he believes that selling off the country's coal industry enterprises to private owners will help resolve a number of problems facing the sector.

"We have to do everything possible to ensure that not only the state is interested in developing the industry. We need to have a lot of partners, including private organizations," Yushchenko told a meeting with representatives of the coal industry in Luhansk on Thursday.