Ukraine needs to update its legislation on critical minerals in order to exploit its existing resource potential and strengthen its competitiveness in the global market, participants in a thematic panel at the Ukraine Recovery Forum said. They stressed that without transparent rules of the game, specialized international partnerships, and a stable security environment, the implementation of large projects in the mining sector remains limited.
The panel was moderated by Vitaliy Radchenko, managing partner of CMS Ukraine and head of the energy and climate change practice. The discussion was joined by Volodymyr Tsabal, Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Budget, Paul Coyier, Professor at the Institute of World Politics (USA), Ksenia Orynchak, Founder and Executive Director of the National Association of Extractive Industries of Ukraine, and Greg Swenson, Chairman of Republicans Overseas UK.
According to the speakers, Ukraine has significant reserves of critical raw materials, but the existing regulatory framework does not fully meet the requirements of international investors and specialized financial institutions. They emphasized the need for clear procedures for access to deposits, understandable risk-sharing mechanisms, and investment protection guarantees. “If Ukraine wants to occupy a prominent place in global supply chains for critical minerals, it needs modernized rules that are understandable to transnational companies and export credit agencies,” Tsabal said.
Separately, participants drew attention to China’s dominant role in the mineral processing segment, which poses significant risks to Western economies. In this context, the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the US, in their opinion, could become a tool for diversifying supply sources, as well as a channel for attracting capital and technology. “Cooperation with Ukraine makes it possible to reduce dependence on a limited number of suppliers and at the same time support the reconstruction of a country that is on the front line of the conflict,” Swenson emphasized.
At the same time, experts reminded that the implementation of projects in the extractive sector directly depends on the security situation. They noted that some of the territories rich in minerals are currently under Russian occupation, which complicates the planning and launch of new investment initiatives. According to the participants in the discussion, achieving lasting peace and creating a predictable security environment is a necessary condition for transforming Ukraine’s resource potential into real economic results.
The forum “Rebuilding Ukraine: Security, Opportunities, Investments” is being held on December 11-12 in Bucharest under the auspices of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is organized by the New Strategy Center. According to the organizers, more than 30 panel discussions and parallel sessions are planned over two days with the participation of representatives of governments, international organizations, the private sector, financial institutions, and experts from Europe, North America, and Asia. The topics of the panels cover security and defense, infrastructure, financing and investment, green energy, digitalization, human capital, and cross-border cooperation.
In Ukraine, approximately 1 million tons of capacity for processing corn into bioethanol is currently being built within industrial parks, which will require 3 million tons of corn annually to meet their raw material needs, according to Taras Mykolayenko, director of the Ukrainian Association of Bioethanol Producers.
“As soon as there is talk of creating a new industrial park, every second one envisages the production of bioethanol. We have 1 million tons of capacity that is just starting to be laid. If we convert (these figures – IF-U) into corn, we need 3 million tons. So, in an optimistic scenario, at full capacity (of bioethanol plants – IF-U), corn will be processed here,“ he said at the conference ”Agribusiness in Ukraine” in Kyiv on Thursday.
Mykolaienko specified that Europe currently consumes 6 million tons of bioethanol per year, so Ukrainian products could definitely be exported to the European Union. As part of the updated trade agreement, the EU, under the influence of its own producers, planned to set a quota for Ukraine at 100,000 tons, which, as a result of negotiations, the Ukrainian side was able to increase to 125,000 tons. The industry plans to increase it to 300,000 tons by 2026.
At the same time, he recalled that in July 2025, a bill was registered in the Verkhovna Rada, which provides for the introduction of a mandatory addition of more than 7% bioethanol to fuel in Ukraine from July 2026, the share of which should ideally be 10%. A similar requirement will apply to imported goods. Accordingly, bioethanol consumption in the domestic market will increase.
In addition, Mykolaienko said that the industry association will try to protect its own domestic market in 2026.
“We are faced with the fact that, in addition to quotas, there are technical regulations in the European Union. These are real non-trade barriers that work well. (…) If necessary, Europeans have a mechanism to stop exports. We plan to develop the same mechanisms, develop and implement a domestic environmental certification system, and we will also protect the Ukrainian market,” concluded the head of the Ukrainian Association of Bioethanol Producers.
According to Serbian Economist, Krakow, Poland, has been recognized as the cleanest city in the world by Radical Storage, which analyzed more than 70,000 tourist reviews of the 100 largest destinations from Euromonitor International’s Top 100 City Destinations index.
According to the study, 98.5% of reviews mentioning Krakow’s cleanliness were positive. The top five also included Sharjah in the UAE (98% positive reviews), Singapore (97.9%), Warsaw (97.8%), and Doha (97.4%).
The top 20 cleanest cities in the world include Krakow, Sharjah, Singapore, Warsaw, Doha, Riyadh, Prague, Muscat, Dubai, Fukuoka, Abu Dhabi, Zurich, Edinburgh, Los Angeles, Lima, Cancun, Porto, Copenhagen, Taipei, and Valencia, with all of them receiving over 94% positive reviews for cleanliness.
Radical Storage indicates that it selected 100 cities from the Euromonitor Top 100 City Destinations index for analysis and reviewed the 10 most popular attractions in each city. Only English-language Google reviews from October 2024 to November 2025 that contained the words “clean” or “dirty” were taken into account, after which the mentions were classified as positive or negative. A total of 71,692 mentions of ‘clean’ and 10,165 mentions of “dirty” were processed.
According to the company, the authors of the study attribute the high rankings of Krakow and Warsaw to Poland’s investments in waste management systems and the improvement of public spaces, as well as the involvement of residents in city clean-up campaigns.
Serbian cities are not included in the study.
https://t.me/relocationrs/1923
On Thursday, December 11, the international forum “Rebuilding Ukraine: Security, Opportunities, Investments” began in Bucharest on Thursday, December 11. At the opening, Ionel Nitu, president of the New Strategy Center think tank, and Mircea Abrudianu, president of the Romanian Senate, emphasized Romania’s readiness to play a key role in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and to become the main logistics hub for this process.
According to Nitu, the forum aims to create a permanent platform for dialogue focused specifically on the practical aspects of Ukraine’s reconstruction, involving representatives of central government, business, international financial institutions, and local administrations in border regions. As a neighboring country, he emphasized, Romania has a direct understanding of local needs and challenges, which creates additional opportunities for joint investment and cooperation projects in the fields of infrastructure, logistics, and energy.
“As Ukraine’s neighbor, Romania has a practical understanding of what reconstruction means in the context of ongoing aggression. Our goal is to bring the government, business, and local authorities to the table and move the discussion to the level of concrete decisions and contracts,” Nitu said, opening the first panel of the forum.
The head of the New Strategy Center drew attention to the concept of a “strategic transport triangle” involving Romania, Ukraine, and the Republic of Moldova, which should be based on the port infrastructure of the Black Sea and the Danube, as well as on the rail and road corridors that are already the focus of the European Commission’s efforts to expand the region’s transport capacity. He also stressed the need for a multidimensional approach to reconstruction, combining economic, social, humanitarian, and security dimensions, as well as the need for “direct, honest, and results-oriented dialogue” between all participants in the process.
The first panel of the forum, “The Importance of Romania for the Reconstruction of Ukraine,” was opened by the keynote speaker, Mircea Abrudianu, President of the Romanian Senate. He confirmed the political position of official Bucharest on supporting Ukraine in countering Russian aggression and stressed that Romania’s participation in reconstruction is not only an economic priority but also a “political and security imperative for the whole of Europe.”
Abrujan noted the strategic importance of Romania’s geographical location for reconstruction logistics: through the port of Constanta, the Danube ports, and the development of railway and road infrastructure, the country aims to become a central hub for cargo flows related to infrastructure, energy, and industrial projects in Ukraine. “Romania has all the prerequisites to become a logistics center for reconstruction — from ports on the Danube and Black Sea to transport corridors connecting the EU with the Ukrainian economy,” he said during his speech.
Separately, the Senate President emphasized the need for deep reforms in Ukraine in parallel with reconstruction projects, primarily in the areas of energy, infrastructure, public administration, and digitalization. In his opinion, investments in reconstruction should also be seen as a tool for Ukraine’s European integration, taking into account the negotiations on EU accession. “If we are talking about long-term investments, we need a just and lasting peace, and until it is achieved, a predictable security environment, which is ensured, in particular, by military support for Ukraine from its allies,” Abrudyan stressed.
He also recalled that the issues of “just peace” and security guarantees for Ukraine had already been discussed during his recent meeting with Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk in Stockholm, where the parties agreed on joint approaches to future peace negotiations.
The forum “Rebuilding Ukraine: Security, Opportunities, Investments” is being held on December 11-12 in Bucharest under the auspices of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is organized by the New Strategy Center. According to the organizers, more than 30 panel discussions and parallel sessions are planned over two days with the participation of representatives of governments, international organizations, the private sector, financial institutions, and experts from Europe, North America, and Asia. The topics of the panels cover security and defense, infrastructure, financing and investment, green energy, digitalization, human capital, and cross-border cooperation.
The NACP’s anti-corruption strategy for 2026-2030 needs more open discussion and transparent coordination with the public, according to Yana Tsymbalenko, anti-corruption commissioner of the National Association of Lobbyists of Ukraine and member of the Board of Trustees.
“The formation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2026-2030 is a process that should be as open as possible, as it concerns the rules that determine the ethical behavior of officials, the prevention of conflicts of interest, and the standards of transparency of the state. However, analysis of the available information shows us that the public discussion of section 1.5 of the Anti-Corruption Strategy took place with numerous violations of the principles of openness and accountability,” she told Interfax-Ukraine.
Cymbalenko noted that despite the publication of the text of the strategy prepared by the NACP, “there is no evidence of full and high-quality consultations, which calls into question the legitimacy of the entire process.”
“In particular, there are no reports on the results of the discussion, no register of proposals from the public has been submitted, and updated versions of the document based on possible comments have not been published. The absence of any records or recordings of the discussion contradicts the general standards of transparency that the state declares,” she said.
The expert recalled that the “Schedule of Public Discussions” is publicly available, according to which the meeting allegedly took place on October 24, 2025. However, according to her, there were no official announcements of this event, the circle of invited stakeholders was not determined, the lists of participants or experts were not published, and it is not known who exactly prepared the materials for discussion.
“It is particularly telling that, despite the name of the division, lobbying issues were not discussed at all. This raises additional doubts about the quality and completeness of the consultations, as well as the compliance of the process with the requirements of the legislation on the formation of state anti-corruption policy,” she said, noting that the presentation of key developments was entrusted exclusively to representatives of the NACP without the involvement of independent experts, representatives of professional communities, or the public.
“The presentation focused mainly on technical aspects, while the key part concerning the regulation of lobbying in the program is completely absent. None of the speakers were presented as experts on lobbying, and the relevant topics were not included in the content of the presentations. This means that one of the most sensitive and controversial topics of the future Anti-Corruption Strategy was not even brought up for public discussion,” she said.
According to Tsymbalenko, “the event (presentation of the strategy – IF-U) looked more like a short internal presentation of the NACP’s position than a full-fledged consultation as required by the principles of transparent rule-making.”
“The NACP’s disregard for proposals from professional associations specializing in lobbying is also unacceptable. In particular, the National Association of Lobbyists of Ukraine (NALU) has repeatedly approached the NACP with a proposal to work together on establishing a lobbying institution in the country. The lack of any response from the NACP not only demonstrates disregard for the interests of the professional community, but also poses a serious reputational risk for an agency that declares openness, accountability, and integrity,” said Tsymbalenko.
“In modern democratic practices, lobbying is seen as a tool for preventing political corruption. It allows influence on government decisions to be brought out of the shadows and ensures its transparency and accountability. Combining this topic with unrelated blocks creates the risk of its simplified interpretation or a formal approach to important issues, which may devalue the potential of lobbying as a mechanism for the state’s anti-corruption capacity,” she said.
