KYIV, Oct 16 – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been considering a plan for free economic area in Donbas for some time now in order to finance restoration of the economy in the region destroyed by war, Oleh Ustenko, Zelenskiy’s advisor, said.

Zelenskiy recently announced his plan to ask Ukrainian voters on October 25 whether they would support the idea.

"This idea has been discussed for a long time in the Office of the President. By the way, it was discussed both for the "continental" territory of Donbas, which is controlled by the Ukrainian government, and for the part that is now not under our control, but will have to reintegrate into Ukraine again. Based on this task, possible solutions were being constantly worked out," he told Interfax-Ukraine.