Today's Contents
Reporter's Notepad:
- US-Ukraine minerals deal reshapes investment terms for mining projects: CMS Analysis
Just The Facts:
- Zelensky calls on Putin to meet him in Istanbul for direct peace talks on Thursday
- Ukraine's central bank eases some currency restrictions to attract new foreign investment
- Ukraine's economy ministry creates international working group to develop insurance market
- Ukraine seeks leader with 'unquestionable integrity' to head new Centralised Procurement Organisation
Here's What They Think:
- SCMP: Engaging China in Ukraine's reconstruction could turn it into a peacemaker
- Kyiv Post: Pressure on Kremlin to end Ukraine war nears tipping point
Sober Second Thought:
- Ukrainian refugees face comparable food insecurity to war-affected residents back home, study finds
Rebuilder's Social
- Yulia Svyrydenko on the first all-Ukrainian mine clearance machine certified, Diaspora2030 on experts living in diaspora in Germany invited to return to Ukraine, Halyna Yanchenko explains US-Ukraine minerals deal in broad terms.
URN Partner Program
URN's Partner Program offers expertise to readers in areas typically beyond the scope of daily journalism, illuminating areas such as the legal and regulatory landscape in Ukraine, logistics, the physical security situation, and much more.
As part of the Program, CMS Ukraine focuses its legal expertise today, exclusively for Ukraine Rebuild Newswire readers, on the US-Ukraine Minerals agreement, with the following article:
US-Ukraine minerals deal reshapes investment terms for mining projects: CMS Analysis
Two provisions in the US–Ukraine Minerals Agreement signed on April 30 could reshape how foreign capital enters Ukraine’s mining sector and how domestic producers negotiate offtake deals.
The provisions, covered in Article VII (Rights to Investment Opportunities) and VIII (Market Rights to Purchase Extraction) of the Minerals Agreement, introduce new obligations on the Ukrainian state authorities as well as on future users of the country's subsoil.
These articles aim to guarantee the Reconstruction Fund access to investment opportunities in mineral production projects and negotiation rights over the offtake of extracted resources in the future.
As reported, the overall agreement established a Reconstruction Investment Fund to be managed by both countries in an equal partnership. The deal covers 57 types of minerals and is expected to unlock significant resources for reconstruction and economic growth, as well as introduce cutting-edge technologies.
Article VII of the agreement grants the Reconstruction Fund priority access to investment information and negotiation rights over Ukrainian mineral production and infrastructure projects.
Sharing investment details with the Reconstruction Fund
Whenever the owners of the mineral production licence (or production sharing agreement) or concession seeks to raise capital, they must share investment details with the Reconstruction Fund. If the Fund expresses interest, they must then negotiate in good faith while refraining from providing materially more favorable terms to third parties.
Importantly, this mechanism is expected to broaden opportunities for Ukrainian projects to access financing through the Reconstruction Fund’s involvement and should not interfere in projects that are not seeking external capital.
Article VIII allows the Reconstruction Fund to negotiate offtake rights over the minerals extracted in Ukraine by other project owners on market terms and grants protection to the Reconstruction Fund against more favorable offtake terms granted to third parties. This is something that the Ukrainian mineral producers will need to take into consideration when planning their offtake agreements.
The mechanisms meant to ensure these rights of the Reconstruction Fund are expected to be detailed in the Limited Partnership Agreement, which will constitute the principal operating guidance governing involvement of the Reconstruction Fund in Ukraine's minerals and infrastructure sectors.
To ensure consistency with the investment and offtake rights of the Reconstruction Fund, Ukraine will still need serious legal reform, including changes to core legislative acts such as the Budget Code, Subsoil Code, Law On Production Sharing Agreements, Law on Oil and Gas Law and various sub-legislative regulations.
For further details, contact CMS at: vitaliy.radchenko@cms-cmno.com
Ukrainian Railways' EBRD-backed tender for gas engine power plants: CMS Summary
Separately, CMS Ukraine has written, exclusively for Ukraine Rebuild Newswire, a high-level summary of Ukrainian Railways' tender for the purchase of gas engine power plants.
The tender forms part of its plans, backed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), to build out distributed electricity generation.
To read the high-level summary, click here.
Note from a Friend-of-URN
A brief online chat this morning with friend-of-URN Kostiantyn Koshelenko has revealed that spots are still open to attend an English-language discussion at the book.ua bookstore near Zoloti Vorota in Kyiv on May 15.
Kostiantyn, the author of Management in Times of War and former Deputy Minister for Digital Development at the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, will host the event at 6:30 pm on Thursday to mark the launch of the audio version of his book (in English and Ukrainian), as well as the Swedish print edition.
"We’ll talk about leading teams, managing projects, and navigating personal resilience during war and uncertainty. Our panel features Pär Lager, Serzh Velychanskyi and Roman Kuzyuk. The format: a live rooftop conversation — with coffee, books, a photographer, and autographs."
Contacts
For questions related to daily news and story suggestions, feel free to message newsroom chief Valentina Bajic at valentina@ukrainerebuildnews.com.
For sponsorships, the Tips for Investors column, and other general matters, email founder Adam Brown at adam.brown@ukrainerebuildnews.com.
Now moving on to today's headlines …
