All news

DPR intent on restoring trade ties with Russia to pre-1991 level, deputy minister vows

Yury Nikonorov noted that amid western sanctions the republic’s enterprises were forced to search for cooperation options

MURMANSK, August 18. /TASS/. The authorities of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) intend to restore cooperation ties with Russia’s regional entities, which had existed before the collapse of the USSR, First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the DPR Yury Nikonorov told reporters on Thursday.

"Cooperation not only with the Murmansk Region, but cooperation with all Russian regions is extremely relevant to the Donetsk People’s Republic today. <…> We will restore the cooperation ties that had existed before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The system operated quite well and efficiently, which is why I think this all should be restored," he said, during a visit by the republic’s delegation to the Murmansk Region.

Amid western sanctions the republic’s enterprises were forced to search for cooperation options, the official noted. "The sanctions that have affected the Russian Federation recently, have been increasing with a certain delay. We have already lived with those sanctions for eight years, which is why all our cooperation ties with the Russian Federation and CIS countries were almost zero due to the fact that legislatively many issues were not fixed. After the decree of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, the situation started changing for the better, we felt that the regions took care of the Donetsk People’s Republic," Nikonorov explained.

A DPR delegation arrived in the Murmansk Region with a business mission to hold meetings with the region’s entrepreneurs and define the areas for future cooperation between the republic and the Arctic Circle. The arrival of representatives of the Donbass enterprises to the Far North was announced by Governor Andrey Chibis of the Murmansk Region after his trip to the DPR in early August.