The "DNR" occupiers recognized the catastrophic reduction in coal production at the "state mines". So-called "Minister of Coal and Energy" Andrey Chertkov, in particular, stated about the negative trends in the industry, - separatist media write.
According to him, the "state mines of the DNR" produced 2-2.5 times less coal last year than in 2018-2019. "Last year, state-owned enterprises of the republic mined about three million tons of raw coal. If we compare this figure with 2018-2019, when our mines produced 2-2.5 times more, we can talk about a decrease in production volumes".
This, the "minister" stated, is due to a number of factors, including a reduction in the number of working miners due to mobilization and an insignificant amount of capital investment for the reconstruction of mines.
At the same time, he did not name how much coal was mined in the occupied part of the Donetsk oblast last year as a whole. Chertkov hopes that in 2023, all the mines in the region will produce about 7 million tons of coal. This is more than 5 times less than the indicators of the year that preceded the occupation of Donbas. In 2013, mines of all forms of ownership in the Donetsk oblast produced 37 million 452.491 thousand tons of coal.