The updated national program for the development of Ukraine's mineral resource base until 2030, adopted by the law of the Verkhovna Rada on December 18, aims to focus efforts on the search for strategic and critical raw materials, wrote on Facebook former head of the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine (Gosgeonadr) Roman Opimakh.
"The Minerals Code has received definitions for 'strategic raw materials' and 'critical raw materials', as well as the procedure for their identification and approval of the lists of relevant mineral deposits, which will be allocated through auctions or competitive tenders," he noted.
The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine will select strategic and critical metallic ores or non-metallic minerals of national significance using a special methodology, and their list will be approved by the government.
"The updated program focuses on the search for specifically strategic and critical raw materials, as well as on increasing their resources (35% of the budget)," Opimakh reported.
In particular, the forecast for the increase in non-ferrous and alloying metals over the next six years, according to the document, is +252 million tons, and for rare and rare earth metals, +382 thousand tons.
"The necessary funds to accomplish the program's tasks amount to 258 million UAH per year, which is six times more economical compared to the previous version of the law, whose funding was practically non-existent," he emphasized.
As the former head of Gosgeonadr explained, the source of funding for the program's activities is a special fund, which should be replenished by business entities through contributions from the rent paid for extracted minerals and part of the cost of acquiring special permits for mineral resource use.
"Information about deposits and occurrences of minerals containing critical and strategic raw materials should be publicly available on the Internet. Such data should include an assessment according to the international classification of the UN's Framework Classification (RC - IF-U)," he added.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law on amendments to the National Program for the Development of Ukraine's Mineral Resource Base until 2030 with 245 votes in favor on December 18.
According to Opimakh, the adoption of this law is one of six indicators for the implementation of the UkraineFacility program in the section "Management of Critical Materials," part of the EU's EUR 50 billion aid package to support the reconstruction, restoration, and modernization of Ukraine.