Turkey probing into imports of coal from occupied Donbas – media

Turkey is next after Ukraine to probe into possible imports of coal from Russian-occupied areas in Donetsk and Luhansk region in the east of Ukraine.

"[A Polish] publication has asked diplomatic institutions of 18 European states about their actions as for blocking of purchases of local coal from the occupied part of Donbas," Ukraine's Ekonomichna Pravda media outlet said citing an investigation by journalists from Poland's Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

In response to the journalists' inquiry, Ankara said it had been investigating into reports about the importation of anthracite from the territories of Ukraine that are not controlled by the Ukrainian government.

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Other diplomatic institutions either re-directed the question to other agencies or simply declared their commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

For example, the Bulgarian authorities said that the EU had imposed an embargo only on trade with the Crimea and Sevastopol, and it does not cover Donbas.

"There are no such legal acts that would ban imports from self-proclaimed, unrecognized 'DPR'/ 'LPR' ('Donetsk People's Republic' and 'Luhansk People's Republic')," the request to the Polish newspaper said.

The same position is shared by Poland, the newspaper said. A number of European ministries did not respond to the Polish newspaper's inquiry at all.

Lawyers note that another interpretation of EU legislation is possible: since both so-called republics are on the EU's "black list," every transaction that brings them profit is illegal.