The US intimidated Andrei Melnichenko

Its SUEK has not been supplying coal for several months through the North Korean port of Rajin, which was reconstructed at the expense of the Russian budget. The reason: American sanctions against the DPRK, which, by the way, Moscow supported.
12.02.2018
TASS
Origin source
The export of Russian coal through the North Korean port of Rajin ceased, despite the special exceptions provided for in the resolutions of the UN Security Council. This was stated on Tuesday by Russian journalists in New York by the Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Alexander Matsegora.

Security Council resolutions prohibit countries from importing coal from the DPRK, but the last such document, adopted in December last year, contains a paragraph stating that sanctions do not apply to the supply of Russian coal "in the framework of the Rajin-Hasan railway project of Russia and the DPRK.

"We have not even a ton of cargo for four months ... <...> No Russian coal miner now wants to go to Rajin, one thing is clear - the Americans are frightening," said Matsegora. According to him, when Moscow raises this issue in the UN Security Council Committee on Sanctions against the DPRK, they say that they can not influence the voluntary decision of Russian companies. According to the ambassador, the Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK) was engaged in the transshipment of Russian coal, which now prefers not to take risks and chooses alternative supply routes to customers.

"They (by deliveries via Rajin - note TASS) win, say, in comparison with the Find a dollar per ton." They overloaded 2.5 million tons last year, for example, earned $ 2.5 million dollars, and in [the United States] they are a billion-dollar business, they are going to risk these billions for $ 2.5 million? No, of course, this is very simple, "explained Matsegor.

The project to restore the railway from the station Hassan (Russia) to the port of Rajin (DPRK) was implemented in 2008-2014 by a joint venture between the Russian Federation and the DPRK with the participation of Russian Railways, the total investment amounted to 10.6 billion rubles. The terminal in the port of Rajin opened in July 2014, in 2016 it was reported that as a pilot project, Russian coal was transported from Rajin to South Korea by sea.

The capacity of the Hasan-Rajin site and the terminal is 5 million tons of cargo per year. From the port the goods were sent to South Korea and China. Their recipients via Rajin from the Republic of Korea were companies POSCO, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Korail Corp.

Threats and accusations of the USA

Alexander Matsegora expressed his opinion that the United States set out to intimidate companies operating in the DPRK. "Our American colleagues have already succeeded in this and are continuing to work in this direction, [striving to create an atmosphere of terror around North Korea," the diplomat said.

According to him, in Washington they try to make it clear that anyone who "deals with anything" in the DPRK will be punished and will incur serious material and financial losses. " "They are very successful in this," repeated the Russian ambassador to the DPRK.

He denied the allegations of US officials that Russia was allegedly dishonestly carrying out sanctions imposed on the DPRK, including the ban on the supply of oil and products of its processing to the country.

"Our petroleum products in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are now practically not supplied, it's about the minimum quantities of official deliveries by rail," the diplomat said, adding that it was about 500-600 tons per month. At the same time, he admitted that the North Korean side can indeed purchase, in circumvention of UN sanctions, low-quality oil products that are no longer produced in Russia.

According to him, the statements of the American side are "not based on facts" and behind them is the desire to accuse Russia of not being interested in denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. "Nonsense: Russia, perhaps more than anyone else, is interested in this problem being resolved, because we are in the immediate vicinity of the [nuclear] test site, from the launch sites of the missiles, they are flying very close to us. God forbid, something will happen, we will suffer first of all, "- said Matsegora.