Ukraine is intensifying work to attract investment in the mining industry: in the near future, 60 subsoil sites will be put up for electronic auctions, and another 26 for the implementation of production sharing agreements (PSAs). This is provided for within the framework of the implementation of Section 13 of the Ukraine Facility Plan in the direction of critical materials management.

This was reported by the Head of the State Geology and Subsoil Service of Ukraine, Oleh Gotsynets. According to him, an important condition for this process is the creation of a transparent portfolio of investment projects in the field of critical raw material extraction. These are resources that are of strategic importance for the economy of Ukraine and the European Union.

Currently, the agency has formed preliminary lists of such materials — 28 critical and 11 strategic — which have already been submitted for consideration by the Cabinet of Ministers. Based on these lists, specific subsoil areas were prepared, which can subsequently be put up for auction or transferred to investors within the framework of the PSA.

Gotsynets emphasized that all actions will take place within the framework of current legislation and taking into account the environmental component. In particular, an environmental impact assessment will be conducted before any work begins - without this, no project will receive a permit for implementation. This, according to the official, should ensure a balance between economic development and nature protection.

It is expected that after the final approval of the list of minerals and the methodology for their classification, the government will be able to announce specific dates for the auctions. In parallel, the development of a new methodology for determining raw materials as strategic or critical is underway. In this process, Ukraine is actively cooperating with European partners, who are helping to adapt methodological approaches to European standards.

"As soon as the methodology is approved, we will be able to update the lists and officially offer investors plots for participation in auctions and signing production sharing agreements," Hotsynets concluded. He also does not rule out that the number of available plots may change depending on future amendments to the legislation.