Media reveals that Russia imports more than ten thousand tons of Ukrainian coal from the Donbas daily
For the period of March 1 to 20, more than three thousand gondola cars loaded with coal crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border. This is evidenced by the statistical data of JSC Russian Railways or JSC RŽD.
According to the data, 3,400 thousand open-top wagons of coal were sent to Russia from the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions uncontrolled by Ukrainian government during the first twenty days of March.
This amounts to more than 230,000 tons of anthracite exported to Russia or about ten thousand tons per day. Going by the official domestic price of 1,730 UAH or $64 per ton, the coal has fetched revenues of UAH 400 million, approximately $14.8 million dollars at the current exchange rate.
The coal wagons have been sent from the uncontrolled territories to the Russian Federation by way of two rail stations, Gukovo and Uspenskaya, which have been closed off from the Ukrainian side since 2015. More than 2,800 wagons were sent to Gukovo station and more than 500 were sent to Uspenskaya station.
The average daily traffic on both stations during the first 14 days of March was 152 wagons per day; during March 15 to 20 it increased to 210 wagons.