News - Ukraine Sets Up Board for Mineral Deal Recovery Fund

The Ukrainian government has appointed representatives to the board of the US-Ukraine Recovery Investment Fund. In May this year, the US and Ukraine signed a mineral deal. Ukraine will transfer a portion from mineral extraction to the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, which aims to support Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction and modernization, with operations expected to begin by the end of 2025. The Ukrainian side will include Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture Oleksii Sobolev, Deputy Minister Yehor Perelyhin, and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleksandr Karasevych, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced on her Telegram. The board plans to hold its first meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 3. It will set principles for project selection and define other operational procedures for the fund. On Aug. 30, Ukrainian officials met with US business leaders in New York, including those from Bank of America, Logistics Plus, GE Vernova, Parsons, Mastercard, and J.P. Morgan. The discussion focused on defense, energy, mineral extraction, and infrastructure. The meeting also covered the future of Ukraine-US cooperation. The fund’s inaugural board meeting will take place next week, and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) delegation is expected in Ukraine in September. “Investors see positive changes in Ukraine’s regulatory environment,” Svyrydenko wrote on her Telegram. “At the same time, we have heard a call to communicate more actively about Ukraine’s investment opportunities.” Examples such as Kyivstar’s listing on Nasdaq prove that Ukraine has a strong private sector, Svyrydenko wrote. Ukraine’s largest telecom company and mobile operator, Kyivstar, launched its Nasdaq listing on Aug. 15 under the ticker symbol KYIV – the first-ever listing of a Ukrainian company on a US stock exchange. “Ukraine should strengthen our security cooperation and our cultural cooperation [with the US]. But it is also important to strengthen our business cooperation,” Kyivstarʼs President Oleksandr Komarov said in a CNBC interview. Since the listing, shares in Ukraine’s top telecom and digital service provider Kyivstar had risen by 20%, Komarov said in an interview on Aug. 29.