The establishment of the Singapore-based company Fairwood PV, which will provide various services in the field of underground mining on the markets of India, Southeast Asia and Pacific, is a milestone for Premogovnik Velenje, Medved told the press.

The agreement with the Fairwood Group and companies Cigler & Partners and Chescor Capital, was signed in the Slovenian Coal Mining Museum in Velenje, 160 metres underground where coal mining in Slovenia started more than 135 years ago.

Medved said that Premogovnik Velenje would export its know-how in the form of a special coal extraction technique, which according to him is one of the most up-to-date mining methods in the world.

Fairwood Group director general Ranbir Saran Das added that the joint venture and the chance to apply this technology in the region which was intensively investing in the modernisation of the energy sector was a very important step.

Chescor Capital director Alan Moore pointed to the major coal reserves and the increasing demand for energy in the Asia-Pacific region. He deems it important that the environmentally-friendly Velenje technique will comply with the environmental standards in the region.

Engineers and experts from Premogovnik Velenje are already analysing a number of potential sites, but Medved did not wish to reveal concrete information.