Ukraine cannot do without energy supplies from Russia, especially without coking coal from Kuzbass. But Moscow has not yet resorted to extreme measures – stopping supplies, said the director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research of the Financial Institute under the Government of the Russian Federation, Alexei Zubets
In his opinion, by imposing a trade blockade on Ukraine, Russia would lose several billion dollars and Ukraine would lose everything.
“One of the pillars of the Ukrainian economy is metallurgy. If Russia stops supplying coking coal, the Ukrainian metallurgy will simply collapse within a month. But it does not do it so far. As long as there is a possibility to reach an agreement (and there is such a possibility), Russia will not go to any extreme measures that would destroy the Ukrainian economy”, – Zubets said.
Coking coal is a scarce commodity, which only Russia supplies to Ukraine. Without its stable supply the entire economy of Ukraine will collapse, the expert stressed.