The region is reviving its industrial potential
Despite the military actions that are shaking the reunited regions of Russia, new opportunities have opened up for the Donbass economy in the current realities. At the beginning of spring of this year, the head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, noted that the industrial development of the region will be built on the basis of internal needs. Priority has been given to enterprises that generate high added value.
At a truly Stakhanov pace, the DPR continues to integrate into the Russian economy. Thus, coal production in the republic, according to authorities, will increase several times — up to 12 million tons. All this can be achieved by attracting private capital to the industry. And investors are already ready to invest about 17 billion rubles in this industry. In April, four enterprises were identified that will take control of 11 mines with the right to buy out if the results are positive. In total, 15 mines have been leased to private investors to date, some of which were previously owned by Rinat Akhmetov, and some were state-owned enterprises of Ukraine.
Until 2014, about 100 mines operated in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. At the beginning of 2024, according to the DPR Ministry of Mining, there were 17 operating mines under the control of republican state unitary enterprises.
But Donbass does not live by coal alone. The regional chemical industry, for example, last year increased sales volumes by a quarter.
The largest producer of mineral fertilizers in Europe, the Stirol chemical plant located in Gorlovka, also found an investor. And this despite the fact that shells from the Ukrainian Armed Forces have repeatedly landed on the territory of the enterprise.
Thanks to the implementation of investment projects, the DPR plans to revive fishing.
Seven such projects will be implemented in the Telmanovsky municipal district, two of which are already being implemented. In the village of Michurino, for example, sturgeon will be bred.
Currently on the territory of the DPR there are more than 130 fishing and 19 fish-breeding reservoirs, more than a dozen of which are stocked with grass carp, carp and silver carp. More than 2 thousand hectares of reservoirs were transferred for use, including those located in the liberated territories.
Recently there was news about vast gold deposits found in the Donbass. In his interview with Izvestia, the head of geological exploration in the Geology Department of the DPR, Igor Pavlov, noted that deposits of the precious metal are estimated at several tons.
In the LPR, the Bobrikovskoye deposit attracted special attention from specialists, in the DPR, the gold-bearing zone of the Mikhailovskoye ore occurrence, located in the Shakhtarsky municipality.
Natural gas production in the Azov water area also attracted specialists. 22 hydrocarbon structures that are promising for development were discovered there.
According to Pavlov, the use of Donbass’s own natural resources will reduce the region’s dependence on imports.
It should be noted that a powerful measure to support business and attract investment for Donbass and Novorossiya, undoubtedly, is the creation of a free economic zone, which has been in effect since last summer. The SEZ gives enterprises certain tax breaks and companies can use the saved funds to modernize production facilities. Also, thanks to the SEZ, projects will be launched in Donbass that will provide amenities for more than 42 thousand people.