Poroshenko wants to confiscate coal imported to Ukraine from the separatist Republics
President Petro Poroshenko will submit a request the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to confiscate coal mined in the territories of LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic) and DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic), which would be sold in Ukraine under the guise of Russian origin.
This was stated by Irina Lutsenko, the President’s spokeswoman in the Verkhovna Rada, reports UNIAN.
"The president has said that the next issue he will be weighing at the National Security and Defense Council is the possible confiscation of coal currently sent from captured mines to Russia, and which from there is intended to be sold under the brand of supposedly ‘Russian’ or ‘other’ coal in Ukraine," she said.
Poroshenko’s representative explained that each brand of coal mined in each individual region has its own certificate that specifies its properties.
"Coal mined in the Donbas differs from coal mined in other places," she noted.
On March 3, the DPR announced a trade blockade of Kyiv. Donetsk announced a break of "all ties with Ukraine."
On March 6, the DPR and LPR stopped supplying coal to the Ukrainian territory.
At the same time, from March 1 to 20, coal totaling 400 million hryvnia ($14.9 million USD) was transported from the Donbas to Russia.