Billion-dollar losses: “black coal miners” detained in Donetsk region (photos, video)
5 November 16:41
In Donetsk region, SBI officers stopped illegal coal mining worth more than a billion hryvnias. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi with reference to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
A private company received a license for geological exploration and pilot development of a hard coal deposit in the territory adjacent to the Svyato-Pokrovska mine in the village of Kurytsyno, Kramatorsk district, Donetsk region, in 2021, but did not start the relevant work. The suspects took advantage of this and organized themselves into a criminal group.
Without permits, they mined coal at a depth of about 80 meters. The organizer also reached an agreement with the head of the local territorial community, who helped to seize the land plot on which they were mining coal by forging documents to lease it to an enterprise controlled by the organizer, and also covered up the group’s illegal activities.
From December 2021 to the present, the group has caused losses to the state of at least one billion hryvnias. The full amount of losses is still being established.
During the search, law enforcement officers found and seized more than UAH 1.4 million, communications equipment, draft accounting, data storage media, computer equipment, seven vehicles, and other material evidence confirming the illegal activities.
If the suspects are proven guilty, they face imprisonment for up to 13 years.
