The electronic structure of thin films of carbolite grown in situ in UHV conditions by impulse are deposition was studied by UPS and EELS. The obtained experimental data were compared with results of LDA-FPLO band-structure calculations. It was found that the electronic structure of carbolite is clearly different as compared to that of graphite and amorphous carbon. The weak photoemission intensity at the Fermi energy as well as the lineshape of the elastic peak in EELS spectra favours rather semiconducting behaviour of carbolite. The results of our band-structure calculations for carbolite polyyne-type chains with small kink angles are in a good agreement with the UPS data. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.