Ukrainian Member of Parliament, coordinator of the Information Resistance analytical group Dmytro Tymchuk says Russia has begun to massively transport coal from the self-proclaimed “Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR/DPR)” in the occupied areas of eastern Ukraine.
“Figures show that coal supplies to Russia’s Rostov region in the first quarter of this year accounted for almost 50% of coal supplies in 2017,” he wrote on Facebook on June 7.
In particular, while 1,595,625 tons of coal worth $63.140 million ($54.7 per ton) was transported from the occupied areas to Rostov region in 2017, some 747,103 tons of coal worth $25.81 million ($34.54 per ton) was delivered to Russia in Q1 2018 alone.
In the first two months of 2018 some 27% of total coal supplies for 2017 (77.5% of those in 2016) was transported from the “LPR/DPR” to Rostov region. Coal shipments to Russia in March alone soared by 46.8% from the total figure for 2017 (by 132% from the figure for 2016).
Tymchuk added that coal transported from the occupied Donbas to Rostov region in 2016 and 2017 totaled 562,399 tons worth $25.251 million ($45 per ton) and 1,595,625 tons worth $63.14 million ($54.7 per ton), respectively. (UNIAN/Ukrainian metal)