More than 4,000 Russian citizens are in custody in Ukraine, according to the Human Rights Ombudsperson of Russia. Tatyana Moskalkova is going to visit the Russians detained in Ukrainian prisons and pretrial detention centers. In the meantime, the Ukrainian military is still launching attacks on Donbass. At least one local has been injured over the last 24 hours. Even in such circumstances, Donbass continues to develop its economy.
Sergey Arsenichev will continue.
Vadim Tatsenko, the factory's director: "The tape goes in there and unwinds. There are brushes there, so it's cleaned. Finally, it gets sorted again".
Under new economic conditions, Donbass' industry develops new approaches. For instance, such an electromagnet was ordered from Naberezhnye Chelny before. Its price is 4 million rubles ($64,000). They managed to make it six times cheaper.
Vadim Tatsenko, the factory's director: We renovate all of it for only 628,000 ($10,000).
— It looks like new after that.
— Yes, completely new.
Mine equipment and bits for tunnel boring machines are produced here. Also, powerful electric engines for mine ventilation are made here from scratch. This year, the Donetsk tram system is 90 years old. The rolling stock is pretty worn out, so they decided to produce their own. The Donbass industry is getting the hang of making things it has never made before. For instance, this used to be a shop for the factory's end products, and now they're building the republic's first tram. It'll appear in the streets of Donetsk this summer. It's based on a Czech Tatra tram. They buy the wheelsets, but all the rest — the cars, the interior and exterior — is made right here.
Alexey Chumachenko, welder: "The tram is an interesting thing. There's nothing like this. We built cars and stuff... But a tram? It's something new. But it's interesting".
Because of financial restrictions and the cutting of former ties, the focus is on the domestic market, but there can be some demand coming from abroad as well.
Alexey Granovsky, the DPR Industry Minister: "We give EAEU certificates for our products. It makes it possible to enter the markets of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and far abroad".
Despite the tense atmosphere, the work continues. The first ten trams shall replenish Donetsk's stock this year.
Sergey Arsenichev, Vasily Kharitonov, Alexey Yaldin, Oleg Bondarenko, Andrey Rudenko, Vesti.
