Here are the industries and rare earths of the Donbass on which Putin is aiming
Not just wheat and food commodities, the Donbass is tempting Putin for its reserves and rare earths that feed industries of all kinds. Facts, numbers and comments
“We will not give the Donbass to Russia”, are the words of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, it remains a primary objective and yesterday the battle began that various analysts consider the second phase of the conflict.
Revanchism aside, the eastern region of Ukraine is historically rich not only in mines of coal, iron, methane, manganese, cobalt, but also lithium, titane and rare metals considered essential for both technological development and the energy transition.
METALS AND RARE LANDS IN THE WORLD
According to the 2020 data of the US Geological Survey , in first place is China which holds more than 62% of the global production of metals and rare earths and 36.6% of the world reserves. It is followed by the United States with 12.3%, Myanmar with 10.5% and Australia with 10%.
WHAT ABOUT UKRAINE?
According to Corriere della Sera , Ukraine – which derives 42% of its GDP from mineral resources – "despite being one of the richest countries in the world in mineral resources, has not yet fully exploited them".
“There are 20,000 deposits and mining sites, which include 97 types of minerals. More than 8,000 deposits have been tested and nearly half are currently being mined. For a total estimated value of 7.5 trillion dollars ”, reports the newspaper.
THE RESOURCES OF DONBASS
As Start wrote, according to a World Bank report, in Donbass there are 900 industrial sites, 40 metallurgical factories, 177 high-risk chemical sites, 113 sites that use radioactive materials, 248 mines, 1,230 kilometers of pipes carrying gas, oil. and ammonia, 10 billion tons of industrial waste.
Although Putin may argue that the "special military operation", or the war, serves to protect and liberate the Russian population crushed and discriminated against by the government of Kiev, particularly in the Donbass region, the richness of the territory is undeniable.
NEON GAS
The neon gas , for example, essential for the much sought-after microchips, comes 90% from the Donbass. As Repubblica recalls, the Iceblick company was founded 32 years ago in Odessa, where "it produces 65% of all neon in the world and is the preferred supplier of Silicon Valley".
LITHIUM
Thanks to lithium, the newspaper reports, "in Donetsk the Australian group European Lithium had just closed a maxi-mining contract, and the Chinese Chengxin was finalizing a concession" – skipped due to the war.
INDUSTRIES
The natural wealth of the Donbass meant that the industrial sector also evolved. The Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol, the last fortress of the Azov regiment and now surrounded by the Russians, is one of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe, with an area overlooking the sea that covers over 11 square kilometers.
The automotive industry with the Zaporizhzhia Automobile Zavod has also gone from manufacturing plows in 1863 to being more and more successful today for its cars, but also for trucks and buses.
And then the Antonov group, as Repubblica writes, which “is one of the few in the world in possession of software and hardware for the entire production cycle – conception, design, construction – of aircraft”. His six-engine Mriya was destroyed by the Russians in the hangar of Hostomel airport on 27 February.
THE PORT OF MARIUPOL
Mariupol itself, with its second most important port in the whole of Ukraine, is fundamental for Putin because, as explained by Marco Di Liddo , senior analyst at the International Study Center (Ce.SI), "by conquering the coastal city, Russia would place a serious mortgage on the offshore gas fields in the Sea of Azov while on the mainland there are several deposits of bituminous rocks from which shale gas is extracted. It is a basin that has only been partially explored: it is not known exactly how many resources are available, but it is worth furthering the research ".
According to the Fatto Quotidiano , the mining industry in Ukraine, up to 2014, generated 15 billion dollars a year.
SO IS THIS THE REAL GOAL OF PUTIN?
All this would suggest that Putin has an economic interest in conquering the Donbass, however, according to Di Liddo it cannot be considered the only reason for the war.
“Political reasons, especially at the internal propaganda level, are those that allow for greater popular support because they move the belly of the voter and influence society. The alleged will to free the territory from Ukrainian nationalists and to defend the Russian-speaking entity – explains the expert – is the declared objective of Moscow from the beginning, but the wealth present in this region could serve, at least in part, to finance the reconstruction of an area already tormented and which at the end of the war will be in even worse conditions ”.
IT IS NOT ALL GOLD THAT GLITTERS
It should also be noted that in the last twenty years the area has experienced a slow decline, accelerated by the war that began in 2014. The Fact recalls that "in 2013, the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk represented almost 16% of the Gross Domestic Product of Ukraine, second only to Kiev, but in the last eight years coal production has decreased by almost three times ”and of the approximately 80 metallurgical companies present, many have not been in operation since before 24 February.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/ecco-industrie-e-terre-rare-del-donbass-su-cui-punta-putin/ on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 13:28:29 +0000.