Editing Donbas (section)

==Economy==
{{Main|Coal in Ukraine}}
{{See also|Economy of Ukraine}}
[[File:Donets coal basin map.svg|thumb|Donets Coal Basin]]
[[File:Donbass economic.jpg|thumb|Economy of the Ukrainian Donbas]]
[[File:Donetsk Scherbakov Park.jpg|thumb|Donetsk, the economic center of Donbas]]
[[File:Сбор угля бедными на выработанной шахте.jpg|thumb|''Poor Collecting Coal'' by [[Nikolay Kasatkin]]: Donbas, 1894]]

The [[Gross regional product]] of Donbas was ₴335 billion ([[EUR|€]]10 billion) in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title="Валовии регіональнии продукт" |url=https://ukrstat.gov.ua/druk/publicat/kat_u/2023/05/zb_vrp_2021.xlsx |website=ukrstat.gov.ua |access-date=25 September 2023 |language=uk}}</ref>

In 2013 (before war) GDP of Donbas was ₴220 billion (€20 billion).<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/operativ/operativ2020/vvp/vrp/vrp2019_ue.xls|title=Gross regional product in 2004-2019|archivedate=2021-05-23|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523094611/http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/operativ/operativ2020/vvp/vrp/vrp2019_ue.xls}}</ref>

The Donbas economy is dominated by [[heavy industry]], such as [[coal mining]] and [[metallurgy]]. The region takes its name from an abbreviation of the term "Donets Coal Basin" ({{langx|uk|Донецький вугільний басейн}}, {{langx|ru|Донецкий угольный бассейн}}), and while annual extraction of coal has decreased since the 1970s, the Donbas remains a significant producer. The Donbas represents one of the largest coal reserves in Ukraine, with estimated reserves of 60&nbsp;billion tonnes of coal.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://ea.donntu.edu.ua:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/5039/1/Privalov%20et%20al_BHM.pdf|title= Coal in Ukraine|year= 2012|publisher= edu.ua|access-date= 2013-07-23|archive-date= 15 December 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171215103034/http://ea.donntu.edu.ua:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/5039/1/Privalov%20et%20al_BHM.pdf|url-status= dead}}</ref>

Coal mining in the Donbas is conducted at very deep depths. Lignite mining takes place at around {{convert|600|m|ft}} below the surface, whilst mining for the more valuable [[anthracite]] and [[bituminous coal]] takes place at depths of around {{convert|1800|m|ft}}.<ref name="ew2"/> Prior to the start of the region's war in April 2014, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts together produced about 30 percent of Ukraine's exports.<ref name="ELF16">{{cite book | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IPNoAAAAMAAJ | title= Europe's Last Frontier? | publisher= Palgrave Macmillan | editor= Oliver Schmidtke | year=2008 | location= New York | page= 97 | isbn= 978-0-230-60372-1}}</ref>

Other industries in the Donetsk region include blast-furnace and steel-making equipment, railway freight-cars, metal-cutting machine-tools, tunneling machines, agricultural harvesters and ploughing systems, railway tracks, mining cars, electric locomotives, military vehicles, tractors and excavators. The region also produces consumer goods like household washing-machines, refrigerators, freezers, TV sets, leather footwear, and toilet soap. Over half its production is exported,{{when|date=February 2022}} and about 22% is exported to Russia.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://mfa.gov.ua/en/about-ukraine/info/regions/25-doneck|title= Donets'k Region – Regions of Ukraine – MFA of Ukraine|website= mfa.gov.ua}}</ref>

In mid-March 2017, Ukrainian president [[Petro Poroshenko]] signed a decree on a temporary ban on the movement of goods to and from territory controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic, so since then Ukraine does not buy coal from the Donets Coal Basin.<ref>[https://economics.unian.info/2338645-ukrainian-energy-industry-thorny-road-of-reform.html Ukrainian energy industry: thorny road of reform], [[Ukrainian Independent Information Agency]] (10 January 2018)</ref>

[[Shale gas]] reserves, part of the larger [[Dnieper–Donets basin]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Assessment of Undiscovered Continuous Oil and Gas Resources in the Dnieper-Donets Basin and North Carpathian Basin Provinces, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, and Poland, 2015 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2016/3082/fs20163082.pdf |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey}}</ref> are present in the Donbas, most notably the [[Yuzivska gas field]].<ref name="fdg4">{{Cite book |last=Gent |first=Stephen E. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1196822660 |title=Market power politics : war, institutions, and strategic delays in world politics |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-752984-3 |location=New York, NY |page=159 |oclc=1196822660}}</ref> In an effort to reduce Ukrainian dependence on Russian gas imports, the Ukrainian government reached an agreement with [[Royal Dutch Shell]] in 2012 to develop the Yuzivska field.<ref name="fdg4" /> Shell was forced to freeze operations after the outbreak of war in the region in 2014, and officially withdrew from the project in June 2015.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Olearchyk |first=Roman |date=2015-06-11 |title=Shell to withdraw from shale gas exploration in eastern Ukraine |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/0c66011e-104a-11e5-bd70-00144feabdc0 |access-date=2022-03-08}}</ref>

===Occupational safety in the coal industry===
The coal mines of the Donbas are some of the most [[Mining accident|hazardous]] in the world because of the deep depths of mines, as well as frequent [[methane|methane explosions]], [[coal dust|coal-dust explosions]], [[rock burst]] dangers, and outdated infrastructure.<ref name="web.ebscohost.com">Grumau, S. (2002). Coal mining in Ukraine. Economic Review. 44.</ref> Even more hazardous illegal coal mines became very common across the region in the late 2000s.<ref name="racket">{{cite news | url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22170976 | title= The coal-mining racket threatening Ukraine's economy | publisher=[[BBC News]] | date=23 April 2013 | access-date=18 September 2013}}</ref><ref name="Illegal mines">{{cite news | url= http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_general/detail/108242/ | title= Illegal mines profitable, but at massive cost to nation | work=[[Kyiv Post]] | date=8 July 2011 | access-date=18 September 2013 | author=Panova, Kateryna}}</ref>

===Environmental problems===
[[File:Kalmius 01.jpg|thumb|Coal-mining [[Spoil tip|spoil tips]] along the [[Kalmius|Kalmius river]] in Donetsk]]
Intensive coal-mining and [[steel industry|smelting]] in the Donbas have led to severe damage to the local environment. The most common problems throughout the region include:
*water-supply disruption and flooding due to the [[mine water]]
*visible air pollution around [[Coke (fuel)|coke]] and [[steel mill]]s
*air/water contamination and [[mudslide]] threat from [[spoil tip]]s
Additionally, several [[chemical waste]]-disposal sites in the Donbas have not been maintained, and pose a constant threat to the environment. One unusual threat is the result of the Soviet-era {{ill|1979 project|uk|Ядерний вибух у Донецькій області|vertical-align=sup}} to test experimental [[Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy|nuclear mining]] in [[Yenakiieve]]. For example, on 16 September 1979, at the [[Yunkom coal mine]], known today as the Young Communard mine in Yenakiyeve, a 300kt nuclear test explosion was conducted at 900m to free methane gas or to degasified coal seams into a sandstone oval dome known as the [[Klivazh]] [Rift] Site so that methane would not pose a hazard or threat to life.<ref name=UkrainianWeek16042018>{{citation | last = Kazanskyi | first = Denys | title = Disaster in the making: The "DPR government" has announced its intention to flood the closed Young Communard mine in Yenakiyeve. 40 years ago, nuclear tests were carried out in it, and nobody knows today what the consequences would be if groundwater erodes the radioactive rock | url = http://ukrainianweek.com/Society/212456 | work = [[The Ukrainian Week]] | date = 16 April 2018 | access-date = 5 October 2018}}</ref> Before [[Glasnost]], no miners were informed of the presence of radioactivity at the mine, however.<ref name=UkrainianWeek16042018/>