Russian company Don Coal Trading House plans to start
exporting coal from occupied areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts as
early as October, Russian outlet RBC reported on Sept. 30.
Andrey Chertkov, one of the leaders of the Russian occupation “administration” in Donetsk Oblast confirmed the plans to the joirnalists.
Oleg Knyazev, the company's general director, told RBC that "negotiations are ongoing for the supply of coal from Donbas with potential buyers from China, India, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Malaysia."
According to a source familiar with Don Coal's plans, the coal could be shipped from the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, in addition to Russian ports in Taganrog and Rostov-on-Don. Additional overland rail export routes would go via Azerbaijan and Iran.
In June 2024, The Moscow Times reported that profits in Russia's coal industry, one of the major sectors of its economy, had fallen by 93% over the past year.