The Polish government has reached a deal with trade unions to keep open mines which had been slated for the axe. <br /><br /> The stand off ended after a week of protests and hunger strikes over and under ground over plans to restructure Europe’s biggest coal producer Kompania Weglowa.<br /><br /> The government had previously announced it would close down four mines, leaving 5,000 without jobs.<br /><br /> Though details of the deal were not revealed, it’s believed the government may merge the loss-making mines with state-owned energy firms.<br /><br /> The four mines which had been scheduled for closure lost 192 million euros last year.<br /><br /> Many of Kompania Weglowa’s mines are deep and expensive, making them difficult to run as global coal prices are in freefall.<br /><br /> Coal supplies 90 percent of Poland’s electricity, but buyers are increasingly turning to cut price supplies from Russia.
