Business news from Ukraine

The joint U.S.-Ukrainian Recovery Investment Fund has signed its first deal in the critical minerals sector and approved four other projects, Conor Coleman, head of investments at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), told Reuters.

According to him, the total value of the fund’s current project portfolio is estimated at approximately $70 million.

The first deal in the mining sector involves an investment of about $30 million in a joint investment platform with BGV Group, co-owned by Hennadiy Butkevych, the owner of the “ATB” retail chain. Initially, the partnership will focus on the exploration and development of deposits of rare earth elements, uranium, beryllium, and zirconium. As Coleman emphasized, all of these items are included in the official U.S. list of critical raw materials.

Two other initiatives are aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s energy and heat generation capacity amid hostile attacks on the eve of winter. Specifically, one of the initiatives will supplement a nearly $100 million credit line that the DFC approved for the DTEK energy holding company to implement a battery storage system capable of providing backup power to up to 600,000 households for up to two hours.

In addition, the fund will invest in a combined heat and power platform for the construction of a network of local “energy hubs.”

As previously reported, the U.S.-Ukrainian Recovery Investment Fund was established under an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the minerals sector at the initiative of U.S. President Donald Trump. The fund’s activities are focused on five strategic areas: mineral resources, the defense-industrial complex, energy, logistics, and infrastructure. The fund is currently working to raise additional capital.