U.S.-Ukraine fund signs first major deal on critical minerals
The fund will place about $30 million with BGV Group for a platform targeting rare earths, uranium, beryllium and zirconium; other projects back power and heating systems.
The U.S.-Ukraine reconstruction investment fund has signed its first major deal to develop critical minerals, part of a portfolio of five new projects worth about $70 million, a senior U.S. fund official said.
Under the agreement, roughly $30 million will be channelled into a joint investment platform with BGV Group, the company founded by billionaire Henadiy Butkevich, who is a co-owner of Ukraine’s largest supermarket chain ATB.
Mining focus and wider energy support
Conor Coleman, head of investments at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), said the critical-minerals platform will concentrate initially on early-stage mining projects across Ukraine. The platform will cover deposits of rare earth metals, uranium, beryllium and zirconium.
Coleman added that two other initiatives announced alongside the minerals deal will strengthen Ukrainian electricity networks and heating systems ahead of winter, responding to increasingly frequent Russian attacks on key infrastructure.
One of those projects complements nearly $100 million that the DFC has already agreed to lend to Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, DTEK, for a new battery system. That system is designed to provide up to two hours of backup power for about 600,000 Ukrainian households.
The investment fund was created under a rare-earth minerals agreement signed in April 2025 at the initiative of U.S. President Donald Trump and targets five strategic sectors, including critical minerals, defense, energy and infrastructure.
Photo: press material from the event
