What will happen to Donbass, If it leaves the Ukraine?

~~Its fate may be sadder than the fate of the fully subsidized Crimea.

Subsidies and subventions

The Donetsk and Lugansk regions are the most industrialized regions of the Ukraine, they were called “industrial heartland" the country for many years. But the state budget for 2013 suggests the opposite.

According to the Investgazeta, in the first six months of the 2013th the Donetsk region received 13.09 billion hryvnias of allocations, grants and subsidies from the treasury, and paid only 3.85 billion to it. A similar situation is with the Lugansk region - it received 9.42 billion from the state budget, and paid only 4.35 billion hryvnias to it. I.e., the total deflict of the two regions was over 14 billion - excluding Kiev, this is the worst performance in the Ukraine.

But the absolute numbers are not very demonstrative, they don’t take into account the size of the regions. A comparison of the budget balance per capita is more clear and correct in this situation. But even in this case, the Lugansk and Donetsk are unprofitable.

A lot of expensive coal

Donbass is a mining region. The Ukraine has  more than 60 million tons of coal production per year. Most of this fuel is  from the mines of Donbass.

About 70 % of solid fuels, mined in the Ukraine is thermal coal. It is used as a fuel for the thermal power plants. There are 5 power plants in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions