14.02.2017, DPR.
Alchevsk Steel and Iron Works stopped operating since yesterday due to lack of iron ore caused by the blockade of the railroad, “Ukrmetallurgprom” group of companies informed on February 14, Minprom news agency informs.
“For the same reason Enakievo Steel and Iron Works and Donetsk Steel are on the verge of ceasing operationsfor the same reason, while Dneprovsk Steel and Iron Works [faces the same problem] due to lack of coke,” the statement of the steelworks group of companies reads. The operations of Avdeevka Coke Plant (ACP), the largest coke plant in Europe, also can be ceased due to the actions of the so-called activists blocking the railroad connecting Ukraine to Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, its CEO Musa Magomedov informed earlier.
“By the way, Mariupol’s Illich Steel and Iron Works and Azovsteel already decreased production by 10% due to the blockade to spread the present stock of raw materials. And this is just the beginning. Decrease in production on Zaporozhsteel is just around the corner. I want to send my best regards to those who blocked the railroad on behalf of all the people employed at the plants, as well as their families,” the CEO of ACP summed up.
In late January 2017 Ukrainian nationalist battalion militants blocked the railroad connecting Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics with Ukraine, launching this way a trade blockade of DPR and LPR. Presently, the three railroad mainlines are blocked.
The transportation of a total of 34100 railroad cars (approximately 580 trains) was prevented as a result of the radicals’ actions as of February 14. All attempts of the police the disperse the participants of the illegal blockade by force so far failed.
It should be noted that a number of Ukrainian politicians and experts think that as a result of such blockade an emergency situation might develop on the Ukrainian market. This way, the Deputy Minister for Occupied Territories Georgy Tuka thinks that all of Lugansk region might experience power outage as a result of the blackout of Schastinskaya Combined Heat and Power Plant. The governor of Lugansk region Yury Garbuz claimed that in addition to this many other regions of Ukraine might experience power outage.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
