KIEV, March 2 - A company controlled by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest man, said on March 2 that the seizure of some of its assets by Russia-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country is "unacceptable," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

The March 1 move to seize dozens of coal mines and other enterprises, including a telecoms firm and a humanitarian organization funded by Akhmetov, followed an announcement by the separatists that they would take control of companies located on territory they hold in response to a road and rail blockade imposed more than a month ago by nationalist Ukrainian lawmakers and veterans of the ongoing war in the east.

The separatists want Ukrainian companies operating on their territory to register and pay taxes locally instead of to the government in Kiev.

"We believe that private property is sovereign, and the demands of re-registration of our companies and payment of taxes to self-proclaimed DNR and LNR are unacceptable," Akhmetov's SCM Group said in a statement referring to the separatist-controlled areas of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The SCM Group, which also provides heating, electricity and gas to millions of Ukrainians, said it is one of few links between the government-controlled areas and non-government controlled areas of Ukraine.

President Petro Poroshenko has denounced the move by the separatists as "another brutal and dreadful violation of international law."

The Ukrainian firms seized in Donetsk and Luhansk comprise several steel plants and 20 or so coal mines, and are a significant source of employment in Donetsk and Luhansk.

“If they are seized by the separatists, their workers may stop getting paid, since Ukraine would no doubt freeze its purchases of the factories’ products while they are controlled by the rebels,” Stratfor, a private U.S.-based intelligence firm, said in a report Thursday.

Akhmetov has only been able to continue shipping coal from the separatist territories because his companies are subject to Ukrainian law and pay taxes to Kiev.

Moreover, the firms would have no other obvious buyers to sell their goods to, since Ukraine is the only major consumer of coal nearby.

“For Kiev, however, the bigger concern is Russia,” Stratfor said. “Having recently recognized the passports and property ownership rights of the separatist republics, Moscow has paved the way for Russian businesses to build direct relationships with factories in Donetsk and Luhansk.”

“If they do, Russian companies may start to buy the regions' coal before offering to sell it back to Ukraine,” Stratfor reported. “Unwilling to risk significant power disruptions in the event of a prolonged cutoff in supplies, Ukraine is eager to find a way to break the impasse.” (rfe/ez)