US-Ukrainian fund unveils first critical minerals deal

The joint U.S.–Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund (URIF) unveiled several investment projects on Oct. 2, including the first-ever critical minerals deal with Ukrainian company BGV Group Management.

Spearheaded by U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukraine signed the so-called "minerals deal" with the U.S. in April 2025, which established a joint investment fund in Ukraine and gives the U.S. favorable access to investment projects in Ukraine. The fund is one of several bilateral investment arrangements that Kyiv has set up since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion and has since since broadened beyond minerals.

The long-awaited critical minerals project will see URIF develop a "joint investment platform" with BGV Group — a firm founded by Ukrainian billionaire Hennadii Butkevych — which will "build a diverse portfolio of early-stage mining projects across Ukraine," according to a press release. The initial focus will be on identifying rare earths, beryllium, and zirconium deposits in Ukraine, URIF said.

While the press release did not specify the details of the investment, Reuters reported, citing a top U.S. official, that the deal will be worth around $30 million.

In addition to the critical minerals deal, two new investments also focused on energy projects ahead of yet another harsh winter amid Russia's anticipated onslaught of attacks on energy infrastructure.

According to Reuters, the first will add, and provide "access to capital if damages arise," to a previously announced 85 million euro ($97 million) loan to Ukraine’s biggest private energy firm, DTEK, for a critical battery storage project.

DTEK opened the battery storage facility last September with American energy firm Fluence Energy Inc., which provided 698 Gridstack batteries. Together, the batteries form a 200-megawatt system that can power 600,000 Ukrainian homes for two hours — reducing blackout risks and helping to stabilize the grid in Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts.

URIF will separately participate in an equity investment in a combined heat and power (CHP) cogeneration platform intended to construct and operate "community-scale energy hubs" to restore energy supply to homes impacted by Russian energy attacks.

Oleksii Sobolev, deputy head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, said in a statement that the new investments give "investors' confidence in Ukraine."

"We want to see more Ukrainian companies develop through this partnership and create new opportunities for the Ukrainian economy," Sobolev added.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the investments "represent the continued realization of the vision behind the novel agreement" reached in April 2025.

Total funding for the new investments sits around $70 million, officials said.

For the first 10 years of the fund's agreement, all profits will be directly reinvested into Ukraine. U.S. military assistance could also be considered as contributions to the fund.

Ukraine has received hundreds of billions of dollars in financial assistance from allies since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, which has helped support the military and keep the country's economy afloat.