Exclusive: Ukraine pitches US modernizing its largest oil refinery as part of minerals deal
Projects Kyiv has submitted to the U.S. for consideration as part of a profit-sharing deal for Ukraine's resources include a shelf and deepwater project and an oil refinery that comes under frequent attack by Russia, Ukraine's Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko told the Kyiv Independent in an interview published on July 7.
After months of hard-fought negotiations around the investment agreement — known more widely as the "minerals deal" for its focus on Ukraine's critical minerals — the two sides signed the deal at the end of April. In addition to minerals, the investment fund created under the deal could finance projects in oil and gas, infrastructure, and, as was recently announced, defense.
Since the signing, Svyrydenko’s ministry has been working with the fund’s U.S. partners — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) — to get initial projects off the ground.
The minister recently said that the fund’s first project could be the development of a lithium deposit in Dobra, in Ukraine’s Kirovohrad Oblast.
But Kyiv is also pitching more projects, including an offshore gas exploration project involving Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas giant Naftogaz, and a plan to modernize the Kremenchuk oil refinery — the country’s largest petroleum production site, located in Poltava Oblast. The oil refinery is owned and operated by Ukraine's largest oil company, the state-owned Ukrnafta.
With Ukraine’s massive domestic market for petroleum products, Svyrydenko called the refinery project "strategic and extremely important." The ministry submitted the $2.7 billion project to the DFC and is awaiting feedback.
"It’s an important project for us, and it’s bankable," she said in the interview.
The refinery in Kremenchuk is a frequent target of Russian missile and drone attacks. When asked whether Kyiv would discuss air defense with the U.S. if the DFC moved forward with the project, Svyrydenko said there’s currently "nothing about air defense in this project," but noted that "U.S. companies that may participate in project implementation can have a strong voice and appeal to the U.S. government."
On July 1, Politico reported that the U.S. Defense Department had paused some promised air defense and weapons shipments to Ukraine, citing concerns about depleting American stockpiles. U.S. President Donald Trump later said the U.S. "might" send Patriot systems to Ukraine.
A day later, on July 2, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Economy Ministry met with U.S. companies operating in Ukraine to discuss the urgent need for additional air defenses to protect businesses and cities.
"We understand that if there is U.S. investment in the country, there’s more motivation for the U.S. to protect (those assets)," Svyrydenko said.
Kyiv hopes to implement the first three projects under the agreement over the next 18 months and plans to hold the fund’s first official meeting at the end of July, in Kyiv.
"It’s extremely important for our partners, for our investors, to be in the country — to see how the country operates during wartime, to see that we’re still fighting and still working," Svyrydenko said.
