The agreement between the United States and Ukraine on rare earth materials provides for the establishment of a commercial fund in which the United States will have a 100% financial interest and Ukraine will allocate funds for it. The text of the agreement, which is current as of Friday evening, February 21, is available to Ekonomichna Pravda.
The document is to be signed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
According to the draft agreement, Ukraine and the United States are establishing a commercial investment fund for reconstruction, in which the United States will retain 100% of the financial interest. Ukraine and the United States will manage it jointly.
The Fund is expected to help increase foreign direct investment in Ukraine by at least two times for every dollar contributed. The goal is to return Ukraine’s GDP to the level of the end of 2021.
The Investment Fund will receive 50% of revenues from Ukrainian mineral and oil and gas resources (less actual costs) for reinvestment in the Ukrainian economy (mining and processing infrastructure, ports, etc.).
In addition, the draft agreement provides for the redirection of revenues from other Ukrainian sources to be determined by the governments of Ukraine and the United States.
Revenues from facilities that were occupied by Russia at the time of signing the agreement may exceed 50% in the event of de-occupation.
Contributions of Ukrainian revenues to the fund will continue until the amount agreed upon by the governments is reached. All non-credit financial assistance from the United States that comes to Ukraine after the agreement is signed will increase the threshold for contributions from Ukrainian revenues.
According to the text, the United States intends to make a financial commitment to help Ukraine in an amount to be determined separately.
The agreement on the fund will not contradict Ukraine’s other international obligations, as well as its future integration into the EU or other associations.
Ukraine and the United States undertake to immediately begin drafting a separate agreement that will define the details of the future Fund.
It is noted that the Ministry of Economy will be responsible for drafting the future agreement on the part of Ukraine.
In Ukraine, on Sunday and Monday, February 23 and 24, there will be no precipitation, only in the afternoon in the eastern regions there will be light snow, and sometimes ice on the roads.
According to the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center, on Sunday, the wind will be of variable directions, 3-8 m/s. The temperature at night will be 13-18° Celsius, in the northern regions sometimes 21-23° Celsius, in the western regions and in the Crimea 8-13° Celsius; during the day 1-6° Celsius, in the western regions 0-5° Celsius.
No precipitation in Kyiv on February 23. On the roads there will be ice in some places. The temperature at night will be 13-15° below zero, during the day 1-3° below zero.
According to the Borys Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory, the highest temperature in Kyiv on February 23 was +11.9°C in 2016, the lowest -21.7°C in 1945.
On Monday, the wind in Ukraine is northerly, in the west of the country mostly southerly, 3-8 m/s. The temperature at night will be 8-13° below zero (in the northeastern regions 11-16°, in the western and southern regions 5-10° below zero); during the day from 3° below zero to 2° above zero, in the western regions 1-6° above zero, in the eastern regions 1-6° below zero.
In Kyiv, no precipitation, icy conditions on the roads in some places. North wind, 3-8 m/s. The temperature at night will be 10-12° below zero, during the day around 0°.
Over the last two years, since 2022, the number of roaming subscribers of Ukraine’s largest mobile operator Kyivstar has grown by 31% to 2.9 million in 2024, 48.2% higher than the average in 2023.
“In 2024, 2.9 million Kyivstar subscribers used the Roaming as Home service, which allows them to stay connected abroad on favorable terms. During the year, the company expanded the list of countries, increased the volume of mobile Internet and added new convenient features, providing comfortable conditions for users,” the operator said in a statement on Friday.
The most active users of the “Roaming as at Home” service were subscribers who were in Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary. On average, they used 5 GB of mobile Internet per month and made more than 170 minutes of calls, 85% of them – in the network of Kyivstar, said the press service of the operator.
In 2022, the number of subscribers who used the roaming service was about 2 million, the report said.
In September 2024, at the conference Global Outlook: Fostering unity, organized by the European Business Association (EBA), CEO of Kyivstar Oleksandr Komarov said that the number of users in roaming operator in July of that year increased by 21% compared to the same period in 2023 – up to 1.9 million active subscribers. According to him, more than half of the subscribers using Kyivstar roaming are men. They owned 70% of conditional new sim-cards, which “flashed” in roaming. CEO of the operator expressed hope that over time the number of subscribers in roaming will decrease, but is unlikely to return to the average level of 2023 – 1.4-1.5 million.
In January of this year, Ukraine increased imports of coke and semi-coke in physical terms by 2.2 times compared to the same period last year – up to 92.501 thousand tons from 42.885 thousand tons.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service, coke imports in monetary terms increased by 79.8% to $29.881 million over the period.
Imports were mainly from Poland (66.51% of supplies in monetary terms), Indonesia (32.01%) and the Czech Republic (1.46%).
The country did not export coke last month.
As reported, in 2024, Ukraine increased imports of coke and semi-coke in physical terms by 2.01 times compared to 2023 – up to 661.487 thousand tons, in monetary terms, imports increased by 81.9% to $235.475 million. Imports were carried out mainly from Poland (84.76% of supplies in monetary terms), Colombia (7.74%) and Hungary (2.69%).
In 2024, the country exported 1,601 thousand tons of 84.76% coke for $368 thousand to Moldova (99.18%) and Latvia (0.82%), while in January, March, October and November 2024, there were no exports, while in 2023, exports amounted to 3,383 thousand tons for $787 thousand.
Estimated number of population in regions of Ukraine based on number of active mobile sim cards (mln)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
In January of this year, Ukraine increased exports of ferroalloys in physical terms by 35.4 times compared to the same period last year, up to 8,331 thousand tons from 235 tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, exports of ferroalloys increased 10-fold to $8.655 million in monetary terms.
The main exports were to Algeria (42.11% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (41.96%) and Austria (8.79%).
In addition, last month Ukraine imported 5.298 thousand tons of these products, a 24.5% decrease compared to January 2014. In monetary terms, imports fell by 33.8% to $8.442 million.
Imports were mainly from Norway (32.80%), Kazakhstan (27.85%) and Georgia (9.11%).
As reported, Pokrovsky Mining and Processing Plant (PGOK, formerly Ordzhonikidze Mining and Processing Plant) and Marganetsky Mining and Processing Plant (MGOK, both in Dnipropetrovska oblast), both part of Privat Group, stopped mining and processing of crude manganese ore in late October and early November 2023, while NFP and ZFP stopped smelting ferroalloys. In the summer of 2024, ferroalloy plants resumed production at a minimal level.
In 2024, Ukraine reduced exports of ferroalloys in physical terms by 4.45 times compared to 2023 – to 77.316 thousand tons from 344.173 thousand tons, while in monetary terms, exports decreased by 3.4 times – to $88.631 million from $297.595 million. The main exports were to Poland (27.40% of supplies in monetary terms), Turkey (21.53%) and Italy (19.82%).
In addition, last year Ukraine imported 82.259 thousand tons of these products compared to 14.203 thousand tons in 2023 (an increase of 5.8 times). In monetary terms, imports increased by 3.3 times to $140.752 million from $42.927 million. Imports were carried out mainly from Poland (32.71%), Norway (19.55%) and Kazakhstan (13.90%).
Prior to the nationalization of the financial institution, PrivatBank organized the business of ZZF, NZF, Stakhanovsky ZF (which is on the NKT), Pokrovske and Marganetske GOKs. Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant is controlled by EastOne Group, established in the fall of 2007 as a result of the restructuring of Interpipe Group, and Privat Group.
