The government has approved lists of critical and strategic minerals and deposits for use. This is important for the implementation of the US-Ukraine subsoil agreement.
This was reported by the Ministry of Environment.
11 minerals were added to the list of minerals and components of strategic importance: aluminum, beryllium, copper, nickel, niobium, strontium, tantalum, titanium, uranium, zirconium, and fluorite ores.
The list of minerals and components of critical importance contains 28 minerals: aluminum, beryllium, copper, nickel, niobium, strontium, tantalum, titanium, uranium, zirconium, fluorite, vanadium, bismuth, tungsten, gallium, hafnium, indium, rare earth, lithium, arsenic, copper, tin, lead, scandium, antimony, tellurium, cesium, zinc ores, potassium salt.
They also approved a list of subsoil areas of strategic and critical importance that will be provided for use through an auction for the sale of a special permit for subsoil use. This list includes 60 subsoil areas and mineral deposits with deposits of titanium, lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt, niobium, beryllium, zirconium, potassium salt, fluorite, and apatite ores.
The list of subsoil areas of strategic and critical importance that will be granted for use based on the results of PSA competitions includes 26 areas with deposits of vanadium, lithium, titanium, uranium, and potassium salt ores.
The Ministry of Environment explained that the approval of these lists is one of the priority tasks for the successful implementation of the agreements specified in the Ukrainian-American agreement on subsoil.
Subsoil Agreement
On May 1, Ukraine and the United States signed an agreement on subsoil resources — that is, on the creation of a US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, which will attract global investments into 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.
On May 13, the Verkhovna Rada voted in the first reading for Bill No. 13256, which provides for amendments to the Budget Code to implement the Minerals Agreement.
In the evening of the same day, it became known that Ukraine had completed all necessary procedures to launch the American-Ukrainian Fund, and on May 23, Ukraine and the United States officially launched the fund.
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