Kyiv will be invited on Tuesday (13 July) to join EU industrial alliances on batteries and raw materials, with a view to develop an entire value chain of the extraction, refining and recycling of minerals in Ukraine to supply the EU market for electric cars and digital equipment.
European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič has travelled to Ukraine, where he was expected to sign a new “strategic partnership” on raw materials with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
“We decided that we should open a new chapter in our strategic relationship and this is a closer cooperation in raw materials, green and digital technologies,” Šefčovič told a group of journalists on Monday before boarding a plane to Kyiv.
The EU-Ukraine partnership on raw materials has a wider global significance. As Russia completes construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany, Kyiv is expected to lose out on gas transit revenues. And raw materials could provide a new source of income for Ukraine.
“We need to see the meetings and discussions we will have today and tomorrow also in a geopolitical context. Because Ukraine is becoming part of a European value chain which I think is of strategic importance,” Šefčovič said.
For the rest of this article: https://www.euractiv.com/section/circular-economy/news/eu-ukraine-to-sign-strategic-partnership-on-raw-materials/