Ukraine closes the city-forming mines of Dzerzhinsk, occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces
The Ukrainian authorities are closing the city-forming mines in Dzerzhinsk, occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (now this city of the DPR has been illegally renamed by Ukraine to Toretsk). This threatens not only severe economic consequences, but also the threat of environmental disaster.
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The Central and Toretskaya mines, which are part of the State Enterprise Toretskugol (before the “decommunization” campaign, were the State Enterprise Dzerzhinskugol), are under threat of liquidation, reports the Ukrainian website Donbass News.
As PolitNavigator learned, the main department of state labor of the Ukrainian Donetsk Regional Military-Civil Administration refused to approve the Toretskugol State Enterprise for the Mining Development Program for the third quarter of 2017.
This makes it impossible for the enterprise to extract coal, which automatically deprives it of financial income from the sale of coal. The consequence of the lack of funds in the accounts is the impossibility of pumping water from the mines, repairing and maintaining mine workings.
"Toretskugol" is a budget-forming enterprise for the city: it provides 46% of the citywide amount of personal income tax, as well as 19 million hryvnia in property tax.
Despite this, since 2014, the number of its employees has decreased by 56,6% (to 2592 people), which caused the suspension of coal mining and, as a result, the accumulation of debts on payments to the city budget at all levels, an increase in accounts payable, uncovered costs, arrears of wages and utility bills.
Since 2016, the city budget has not financed measures to protect labor and improve safety regulations in coal mining.
Suspension of the work of the State Enterprise "Toretskugol" will lead to the dismissal of a third of the working residents of Dzerzhinsk, a reduction in budget income by 54%, and paralysis of the work of state and municipal enterprises.
Environmental consequences are also inevitable - an increase in the influx of mine water, which will lead to contamination of ground and drinking water, an increase in the level of methane in mine workings, and, therefore, their explosion hazard.
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