KIEV, July 7 - Ukraine plans to switch its fossil-burning power generation plants towards using domestically extracted coal instead of relying on expensive imported natural gas, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Monday.

Tymoshenko, who said the plan would help Ukraine to reduce its dependence on imports of gas from Russia, said the government was ready to step up financing of the coal sector to reach the goal.

“We will dramatically change the coal industry in order to reduce consumption of natural gas,” Tymoshenko said at a press conference Monday.