Donbass gives Kyiv an ultimatum: if you want coal, comply with Minsk
Donbass can resume coal supplies to Kyiv, but for this the Ukrainian side must begin to implement the Minsk agreements, Izvestia reports.
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The issues being considered in the economic subgroup are those that are being addressed against the backdrop of unresolved political issues. "Once the process gets underway, I hope all the current political obstacles will disappear," Vladislav Deinego, deputy chairman of the LPR People's Council and the republic's plenipotentiary representative at the Minsk talks, told the publication. "For example, there's the ATO zone, the existence of which impedes economic activity in many territories, as well as interaction between our jurisdiction and Ukraine. This is precisely what blocks the operation of virtually all mechanisms in this territory, with the exception of those we independently created to counteract those blocked by Kyiv."
The publication notes that the competence of the subgroup on economic issues includes the issue of adopting a program for the economic revival of Donbass and restoring the vital activity of the region, which concerns, in particular, the supply of water, the restoration of the railway and the establishment of coal supplies from the DPR and LPR.
the newspaper recalls that the DPR stopped supplying coal to Ukraine in November 2015 due to problems with paying for fuel and cites the words of the Minister of Transport of the Republic Semyon Kuzmenko at that time, who said that “Ukraine loves our coal very much, but really does not love for it to pay". In December, the LPR also stopped supplies.
“Due to the conflict in Donbass, Ukraine has lost access to most of the Donbass mines. The most profitable mines are located in the territory not controlled by Kyiv, and the enterprises remaining under the control of the Ukrainian authorities extract unprofitable coals, the publication points out. – In this regard, Kyiv is forced to import coal from South Africa, the USA and Russia. Currently, coal reserves at thermal power plants of Ukraine amount to 1,2 million tons. In order to avoid problems in the upcoming heating season, Kiev needs to accumulate 1 million tons by November 2,8 (1,4 million tons each of anthracite and gas group coal) per warehouses of thermal power plants and thermal power plants. In fact, this can be done in the remaining month only taking into account coal supplies from Russia or from the uncontrolled territories of Donbass.”
At the same time, the publication writes, the people’s republics themselves do not experience problems with electricity.
" Thanks to the presence of thermal power plants within the republic, we are more than sufficiently supplied with electricity. There are no problems whatsoever with the operation of factories and mines or with providing electricity to the population," the press service of the DPR Ministry of Coal and Energy told Izvestia.
Donbass gives Kyiv an ultimatum: if you want coal, comply. Minsk