Russian official Vladislav Vasiliev, dispatched to Donetsk as the "deputy prime minister of the DNR government" declared that coking coal in Donbas will be imported from Kuzbass (the Kuznetsk Basin coal mining area in southwestern Siberia – OstroV).
"If we talk about the coal industry, it must be profitable. The cost of coal mining in Donbas is higher than in the Kuznetsk Basin. Here, the coal seams are smaller, and the depth of occurrence is different... If bringing coal from Kuzbass to Donbas is cheaper, why not do it?", - he pronounced, passing judgment on the coal industry in Donbas.
The russian official "assured" that not all mines would be closed. "What is effective should remain", - he noted.