Researchers from the Institute of Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine note that Ukraine possesses certain reserves of rare earth elements (REE), although most of them were studied back in the Soviet era. This data needs to be updated. It is worth mentioning that a significant portion of potential deposits is located in regions currently under Russian occupation or near combat zones.
This is reported by Бізнес • Медіа
Necessary Investments and Challenges
Experts emphasize that “Today, Ukraine lacks the necessary infrastructure for the full cycle of extraction and processing of these elements.” Only one of the six known REE deposits in Ukraine, namely the Novopoltavske deposit in the Zaporizhzhia region, has confirmed reserves and is open for licensing. However, even this deposit requires investments of about $300 million for its full development.
Competition in the Global Market
An additional challenge for new REE projects is China’s dominance in the global market for their processing. As experts point out, for Ukraine to become competitive in this market, a complete value-added chain must be established — from extraction to the production of final products.