The investment agreement for Ukrainian subsoil currently does not promise rapid financial growth. As noted by Reuters, this agreement covers all types of minerals – from oil and gas to various metals. Although Ukraine possesses certain deposits, most of them are still insufficiently explored or located in temporarily occupied areas by Russia.
This is reported by Business • Media
In particular, one of the main deposits of rare earth elements – Novopoltavske – has not been studied since the Soviet era and is located near the front line. A similar situation is observed with lithium. According to experts, about 40% of metal resources in Ukraine are under Russian control. While the war continues, assessing the real value of these resources and the potential of the agreement is a challenging task.
Challenges for Investors
Moreover, due to the war, most enterprises that could extract or process minerals are currently not operational or not involved in the agreement. In fact, Ukraine needs to build all production infrastructure from scratch.
An additional problem is the further processing of minerals to a state suitable for industrial use. For example, the purification of rare earth elements is a complex process predominantly handled by China. Uranium also needs to be enriched, and titanium ore must be processed to an appropriate state for the aviation industry.
Competition with Russia
Furthermore, it is important to consider that Russia is one of the key players in the processing of titanium and uranium. In 2023, its share accounted for over 25% of enriched uranium used in the USA.