Russia Prepares to Export Coal From Occupied Donbas Via Mariupol Port

Talks on coal exports from the occupied Ukrainian territories are being held with potential buyers in China, India, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Malaysia.

The Russian company Donskoye Ugol Trading House plans to start exporting coal from the occupied Donbas in October.

The first deputy head of the occupation administration in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Andrii Chertkov, told the RBK news agency, the CFTS portal reports, citing the publication Business Censor.

The head of the Russian company, Oleg Knyazev, claimed that negotiations on coal exports from the occupied Ukrainian territories are being held with potential buyers in China, India, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Malaysia.

According to the news agency’s sources, illegal coal exports may be arranged through the ports of temporarily occupied Mariupol, Taganrog, and Rostov-on-Don, as well as by rail through Azerbaijan and Iran. There are no plans to export coal through ports in the Russian Far East.

The Donskoye Ugol Trading House was registered in Rostov-on-Don in July 2020. In February 2024, the occupation administration of the Donetsk region leased five coal mines to the company: Samsonivska-Zakhidna, Dovzhanska-Kapitalna, Komsomolska, Vakhrusheva, and Frunze. In June, the company leased five additional mines: Molodohvardiiska, Chervonyi Partizan, Kharkivska, Sukhodilsk-Vostochna, and Barakova.

Until 2015, the Molodohvardiiska, Sukhodilsk-Vostochna, and Barakova mines were owned by Krasnodonvuhillia, part of the Metinvest holding company. The Chervonyi Partizan and Kharkivska mines were part of the Ukrainian state enterprise Sverdlovantratsyt.