Critical raw materials reserves can drive Ukraine’s economic growth.

Significant reserves of critical raw materials are capable of becoming an essential factor in Ukraine’s economic development and could help it to integrate into global processes, says We Build Ukraine co-founder Oleksandr Kubrakov.

In his opinion, one barrier to investment is the closed nature of Ukraine’s subsoil use industry. In particular, the expert proposes that Ukrainian reporting standards on mineral reserves be updated in order to harmonize them with internationally recognized standards, simplify the procedure for obtaining land plots for subsoil use, and create tools to stimulate the industry. A separate area of importance is the availability of geological information and its digitization, mainly through the use of AI.

According to Kubrakov, the task is not only in the extraction of raw materials but also in the development of infrastructure, localization of processing, and production of final products, for example, components for electric cars or titanium products for medical purposes.

Ukraine is at the top of the lists of countries with reserves of key natural resources: coal – eighth place, iron ore – fifth, and manganese ore (used in producing glass, ceramics, and steel) – fourth.