Polish Minister Confirms Purchase of Coal from Occupied Donbas

Poland has been importing coal mined in Ukraine’s occupied east, but certified with Russian documents, the Polish publication Biznes Alert reported.

The quantity is “relatively small,” according to Polish Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski — eleven tons per day, the amount one energy bloc consumes daily.

Ihor Nasalyk, Ukraine’s Minister of Energy, also commented on the situation. “We buy coal from the USA and African countries, and Poland buys [it] from our occupied territories. This is a very upsetting situation,” he said.

Previously, the Polish newspaper Gazeta Prawna published a report on coal from Ukraine’s occupied Donbas region entering Poland through Russia. The newspaper reported that Igor Plotnitsky, de facto “leader” of the self-proclaimed “Luhansk People’s Republic,” personally profits from these sales.

Denys Dydenko, head of the Anti-Crisis Center of Ukraine’s DTEK group. Photo credit: HROMADSKE

Earlier, Russia’s Deputy Economic Minister, Sergei Nazarov, confirmed that the “Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics” in Ukraine’s east sell coal to Russia, and that Russia then re-sells it to third-party countries.

In an interview with Hromadske, Denys Dydenko, head of the Anti-Crisis Center of Ukraine’s largest energy group DTEK, said that coal from the mines of occupied Donbas is also being sold through Russia to Turkey.

READ MORE: Blockade Leaves Tens of Thousands Without Salaries in Eastern Ukraine

/Written by Serhiy Pivovarov

/Translated by Eilish Hart