On May 13, the Verkhovna Rada voted in the first reading on draft law No. 13256, which provides for amendments to the Budget Code to implement the Minerals Agreement.
This was reported by a member of the MP from the “Voice” faction Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
The document was supported by 286 MPs.
The agreement provides for the creation of a Reconstruction Investment Fund. Ukraineʼs contribution to the fund will consist of half of the funds received after the agreement enters into force from:
- rents for the extraction of minerals (oil, gas, gas condensate, etc.) from new licenses;
- issuance of new special permits for the use of subsoil;
- sale of the state part of the production under new production sharing agreements.
This money will be credited to a special fund of the state budget and, by decision of the chief administrator, will be directed to the reconstruction fund.
According to Zheleznyak, the second reading of the bill will be voted on in early June.
Subsoil Agreement
On May 1, Ukraine and the United States signed an agreement on subsoil resources — that is, on the creation of a Reconstruction Investment Fund between the United States and Ukraine, which will attract global investments to our country.
The fund is a key instrument of cooperation between the United States and Ukraine for the countryʼs post-war reconstruction and its integration into the global economy. More information about the agreement is available here and here.
The signing of the agreement was preceded by months of political battles between Ukraine and the US. Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko noted that in the end, a version of the agreement was formed that provides for mutually beneficial conditions for both countries.
On May 6, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on International Policy recommended ratifying the minerals agreement. However, on May 7, the Committee voted down the decision — a text was added to the preamble of the resolution, stating that the deputies had not seen other agreements concluded along with the general minerals agreement.
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