Ukraine says Russia has started to restrict its coal supplies

KIEV, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Russia has started to restrict coal supplies to Ukraine, Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn told parliament on Friday, saying Kiev had 1 month of its own supplies left, enough to ensure the stable functioning of the power system for up to 50 days.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday that Russia might cut coal supplies to punish Ukraine for what he said was its deliberate refusal to help rebuild power lines to Russian-annexed Crimea, which were blown up by unknown saboteurs over the weekend.

(Reporting by Natalya Zinets; Editing by Andrew Osborn)