Ukrainian Government: Ukraine will cease all contacts with the enterprises ‘nationalized’ by the seperatists
Ukraine will cease all contacts with the enterprises located in the so-called DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic) that were expropriated by the separatists, as stated by the Minister of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, Vadym Chernysh, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.
"All business contacts with companies where the management was changed will be stopped", he said. The Minister stressed that only those companies that work within the legal framework of Ukraine will maintain business ties with Ukrainian enterprises.
After Ukrainian activists launched a transport blockade of separatist-held areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in late January, the so-called DPR and LPR demanded that enterprises located in the separatist-held areas re-register and pay taxes to the separatist authorities or , in case of refusal, be placed under external management as of March 1st.
Subsequently, the so-called LPR declared an interim administration for three companies (VAT Krasnodonvugillya, DTEK Rovenkyanthracite, and Dtek Sverdlovanthracite LLC), while DPR asserts that it has introduced it in 43 enterprises.
At the same time, out of the list of enterprises, only Ukrtelecom and Lifecell operators, together with Donbas Arena and the Shakhtar Football Club and its Kirsha Training Centre have confirmed such change of management by the separatists.
On March 1st, President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, said that Ukraine will demand the introduction of sanctions against those who "nationalized" the Ukrainian enterprises in the separatist-held areas of the of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
"I have a special request: that we jointly impose sanctions for the violation of international and Ukrainian legislation against those who engage in the business of confiscating these assets," said the head of the state at a meeting with the foreign ministers of the UK and Poland, Boris Johnson and Witold Waszczykowski. He also expressed confidence that the coordinated actions in this matter will be effective.