Categories: INVESTIGATIONS

Ukraine’s resources: a path to prosperity or another missed opportunity?

Ukraine's resources: a path to prosperity or another missed opportunity?

I have one major doubt about the project’s development prospects based on both U.S. and Ukrainian sources…

I am against trading resources for security.

Because security won’t come that way.

Look:

– American companies will operate in Ukraine, just like in Africa.

– There, they extract raw materials but process and manufacture products elsewhere.

– Private military companies will protect the extraction sites (and they will appear in Ukraine as well).

– The war in Ukraine will be stopped. But will people live happily?

Yes, a few tens of thousands of jobs will be created in mining.

That’s it.

Let me give you an example I always use.

From one ton of titanium raw material worth $300, you can produce 250 kg of products (such as implants), with a final value of about $6,000 per kg (sometimes reaching up to $20,000).

Calculate the total value:

250 * 6000 = $1.5 million

That’s 5,000 times higher!

And this value does not remain in Ukraine (!!!)

As a Ukrainian citizen, I want Ukrainian minerals to be processed in Ukraine (!!!)

– With American capital

– With American technologies

– With American engineers

Let these companies be 90%-100% owned by American funds and corporations.

But let them operate in Ukraine.

Another question arises:

Why would they need Ukraine at all?

– A country ranked 150th in the world in economic freedom (hello again, Africa).

– A country with a terrible tax code and an idiotic tax system (ranked 65th globally).

– A country where tax rules have changed over 200 times in 10 years (!!!) – zero predictability.

– A country with no competitive investment incentives (R&D cost compensation, capital investment incentives, easy network connections, fast and simple procedures, free economic zones, British law…).

– A country without a strategy or strategic priorities.

– A country that does not respect private property(hello ARMA, GPU, SBU… courts).

– A country with corrupt, controlled courts and judges.

– A country without ideological parties, facing constant political turbulence, regime changes, and instability.

Shall I continue?

Overall, we’re at a dead end.

– If they only extract resources without processing them – I am against it. 100% of Ukrainians, the rightful owners of these resources, will be against it.

– But processing is impossible without changing the lawlessness described above.

So maybe we should finally fix our mistakes and create the right conditions in Ukraine?

I’m certain that if there’s a real will, we can develop the necessary legal framework in just 2-3 months:

– The 10-10-10 Tax Code draft is already prepared.

– British law for the International Financial Center is already included in a 100-year agreement with the UK.

– The Long-Term Strategy only needs finalization (Ukraine Vision 2035 is ready).

– Security guarantees and access to cheap, long-term resources can be established through U.S.-Ukraine intergovernmental agreements.

U.S.-Ukraine cooperation, with both extraction and processing in Ukraine, would lead to:

– The creation of hundreds of new enterprises.

– Hundreds of thousands of well-paid jobs (by Ukrainian standards, and for the U.S., Ukrainians will remain cheaper labor than Americans for the next decade).

– Tens of billions of dollars in investments.

– A hundreds-of-billions increase in the market capitalization of American corporations.

– Higher tax revenues for Ukraine and higher foreign exchange earnings from exports.

– Real security for Ukraine – because losing a mining site is one thing, but protecting territory that produces critical components for key partners is a whole different story.

As they say:

“Those who want – find opportunities, those who don’t – find excuses!”

Read, think, and share!

Anatoliy Amelin