Svyrydenko: Ukraine did not sign any additional agreements on subsoil resources with the USA

Svyrydenko: Ukraine did not sign any additional agreements on subsoil resources with the USA

Ukrainian Minister of Economy Yuliya Svyrydenko denied the information about the signing of two additional documents to the agreement between Ukraine and the USA regarding minerals. According to her, these documents are currently in the finalization stage.

This was reported by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak ("Holos"). He noted that according to Svyrydenko, the specified documents:

• Will be signed between two agencies – the American U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the Ukrainian Agency for Support of Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
• Do not require ratification.

"Yuliya Svyrydenko stated that the information about the signing of the two other agreements is not true," – the report states.

What the additional documents are about

Previously, Zheleznyak explained: in addition to the already signed agreement, which is expected to go through the ratification procedure in the Verkhovna Rada on May 8, there are 2 more documents. In particular:

• Agreement on Limited Partnership.

According to Zheleznyak, it defines the mechanism for the creation, financing, and management structure of the Investment Recovery Fund.

• Agreement on the creation of a "General Partner".

"A structure that will essentially be above the fund is being created – the general partner. The agreement defines the management rules of the fund, the decision-making configuration, etc.," explained the MP.

What the additional documents entail

Meanwhile, Zheleznyak noted that according to Svyrydenko, the additional documents stipulate that the distribution of income from the extraction of Ukrainian minerals will not begin until at least 10 years. Additionally:

• Ukraine receives "guarantees of legal and political stability".
• Licensing/royalty payments will be transferred from the state budget to the accounts of the PPP Agency. After which, "transfers to the Fund will be carried out".

It is also noted that Svyrydenko confirmed the inclusion of so-called "dormant licenses" in the agreement. As the MP explained earlier, these refer to "licenses or special permits issued before the date of entry into force of the Limited Partnership Agreement, but which have not yet been exploited for industrial purposes".