Occupied Luhansk draws revenue from coal supplied to Centrenergo, documents reveal
5 January 2017
About half the revenue of the anthracite coal drawn from occupied Luhansk and sold to power generator Centrenergo (CEEN UK) goes to finance the budget of the Luhansk People’s Republic, Interfax-Ukraine reported on Jan. 3, citing court documents. These 47% of revenues are used to pay the salaries of government employees and purchase ammunition, the documents said, which didn’t indicate the period of the sales.
Two out of Centrenergo’s three thermal power plants are designed to burn anthracite and lean coal, which in Ukraine are only mined in the occupied territories. These power plants are currently burning coal imported from South Africa or supplied from the occupied districts of the Luhansk region.
Alexander Paraschiy: The indirect financing of Russian-backed terrorist organizations by Centrenergo, a publicly-traded firm controlled by the Ukrainian government, destroys its investment attractiveness. Should the company become private, it would face the risk of sanctions both domestically and internationally. Recall, Centrenergo is among the govenrment’s biggest privatization targets for 2017. So we see a high risk that Centrenergo’s privatization will be postponed again.
