Vice President Maros Shefchovich and Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal signed Memorandum of Understanding , which will form the basis of a partnership in the supply of raw materials from Ukraine to the European Union.
“The strategic partnership with Ukraine will include activities along the entire value chain of both primary and secondary critical raw materials and batteries, and in line with the objectives of the EU Critical Raw Materials Action Plan, it will help diversify, strengthen and secure both sides "- said in a special statement of the European Commission on Tuesday.
In particular, the strategic partnership signed today will be aimed at developing three key areas of work identified in the Memorandum of Understanding.
First, the document sets the goal of converging the political and regulatory framework for mining, in particular environmental, social and governance criteria for all types of mining activities in Ukraine.
Second, the partnership aims to better integrate the critical value chains of raw materials and batteries for the development of minerals in Ukraine in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.
The European Commodities Alliance and the European Battery Alliance will be used as platforms for stakeholders from the EU and Ukraine, including financial and investment organizations, to cooperate and develop joint projects and other business opportunities. To this end, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine has been admitted as permanent members in two European industrial alliances.
Finally, the partnership will also foster closer research and innovation collaboration in raw materials and battery value chains using Horizon Europe.
In addition, the EU and Ukraine have approved the first roadmap, a set of specific activities and joint projects to advance the strategic partnership in the period 2021-2022. In particular, this will help:
- Develop a roadmap for decarbonization of extraction and processing of raw materials in Ukraine;
- Strengthen sources of raw materials and battery recycling in Ukraine by organizing capacity building events for public administration and training for companies;
- Digitize and strengthen the management of data on Ukrainian mineral resources in digital format, as well as estimate raw material reserves using international standards;
- Expand the use of Earth observation and remote sensing programs to improve exploration for new resources and monitor mine environmental performance during operation and after closure;
- Implement joint projects for industrial and investment entities of the EU and Ukraine using business investment platforms of European industrial alliances.
The EU and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine have also begun cooperation in obtaining EU technical assistance as part of a strategic partnership. The EU has increased its technical assistance program to the Ukrainian government and companies for 2021 by 750,000 euros. Further substantial assistance in capacity building, training and research is expected from 2022.
European banks, that is, the EIB and the EBRD, will also mobilize financial and investment instruments to support specific actions in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding and the Roadmap.
Recall that there are 117 types of useful fossils out of 120 consumed in the world. Among them are such strategic metals as titanium, manganese, iron, germanium, kaolin, gallium and zirconium.
Ukraine has significant proven reserves of lithium, which is not being mined today - there is only one licensed deposit. The country is one of the 10 leading countries in terms of the volume of explored titanium ores and provides more than 6% of their world production.
