In preparation for the signing of the Memorandum between the European Union and Ukraine, scheduled for June 2021, an online seminar was held, at which the main topic was a discussion of the supply chains of Ukrainian metals and minerals to Europe.
Like explained in the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine, the purpose of the seminar was to inform the European community about the available mineral resources in Ukraine, which are on the list of critical ones, to provide open and easy access for investors to primary geological data and to attract foreign investors to explore and develop promising areas of Ukrainian subsoil.
The organizers of the seminar were the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine, the European Institute of Innovation and Technologies of Critical Raw Materials (EIT RawMaterials) and the General Directorate of the European Commission for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and Medium and Small Business (EC DG GROW).
During the seminar, the Chairman of the State Geological Survey Roman Opimakh focused on three blocks: the existing resource base and ready-for-sale objects of critical minerals, access to geological information and the synergy of building elements of permanent supply chains between strategic partners.
“Ukraine and the EU have agreed to work together to build a reliable supply chain for critical raw materials. Our country has great potential for the development of lithium, tantalum, niobium, nickel, cobalt, etc. The Investment Atlas contains about 30 proposals for subsoil areas with deposits of critical minerals. Information about them is collected in an online data room and is available free of charge. Today, we extract these minerals in an insignificant volume, but we are able to increase it with significant capital investments and modern technologies, ”said Roman Opimakh.
Representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, geological services of Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, higher educational institutions of Ukraine and the European Union, as well as business took part in the seminar.
Let us remind you that Ukraine and the European Union have agreed to cooperate in the supply of metals and minerals that are critical to the economy. We are talking, in particular, about minerals classified as critical according to the EU classification. The demand for them is sharply increasing today in connection with the course of the European public towards a climate neutral continent.
