The Russia-backed militants illegally ship to government-held areas of Donbas certain kinds of products, namely alcohol, charcoal and gold bars. Dmytro Snegiryov, public activist, reported that on air at 112 Ukraine TV channel.
‘The coal supplies that we get from the occupied territories of Donbas also contain hidden stashes of food, tobacco, vodka and medicines. The vodka production volumes in Donetsk and Luhansk has grown drasticall; now, Olimp and Luga-Nova companies, major vodka producers in these two cities, produce six times more vodka that that they did before the beginning of the armed conflict. Such facts of shipping counterfeit goods were documented by the State Fiscal Service. Gold bars made at ‘Agat’ enterprise in Roven’ky town, Luhansk region, are shipped, too. If the responsible services fail to control this illegal traffic, Ukraine will have faced acts of economic sabotage. Strangely, these gold bars have brands of Ukrainian producers on them’.