In the Zakarpattia region, the state became a hostage to private businesses and still has none of its own salt production facilities due to lawsuits over the equity rights of the owners of the Tereblia field.
The relevant statement was made by Zakarpattia Regional Military Administration Head Myroslav Biletskyi in an interview with Ukrinform.
“This salt would indeed cover the needs of the state. There’s a lot of it, and it is good. In other words, there are really no problems with salt in Tereblia. There are problems with the owners who got into quarrels, blocked each other’s work, and are now stuck in the courts,” Biletskyi told.
In his words, this is a sad story, in which the state that had been left without its own salt production due to Russian armed aggression found itself hostage to private businesses.
“This story has made the entire state dependent, as we still do not have our own salt and keep importing it from Egypt or other countries from 2,000 kilometers away. We have neither new jobs and taxes nor development. Although we could have had,” Biletskyi stressed.
According to him, the regional military administration cannot influence the development of events, as this refers to the equity rights of the owners of the field.
“Of course, we try to reconcile them in order to unblock operations. But, it is a complicated story. We must understand that the story has moved to a different dimension, the judicial one. But, the issue must be raised, as the public interest should not suffer from misunderstandings between several individuals,” Biletskyi explained.
A reminder that, in August 2023, the first salt was extracted within the Tereblia field in the Zakarpattia region’s Tiachiv district. According to the preliminary estimates, the production rate may reach 45 tonnes per day with a potential increase to 200 tonnes upon the expansion of production facilities.
In 2015, the preliminary geological survey and appraisal of the Tereblia field showed the rock salt deposits of 15.5 million tonnes.
In April 2022, Ukraine’s Artemsil State Enterprise, which is situated in the Donetsk region’s city of Soledar, suspended operations due to Russian continuous attacks.
Source: Regional military chief comments on salt production issues in Zakarpattia region
