Logistical and economic barriers will make it difficult to implement the US-Kiev minerals deal, The Washington Post writes, citing American experts.
This deal is unlikely to yield results quickly: real supplies of titanium, graphite and lithium will begin in the distant future, and the prospects for the oil and gas industry are limited, the publication writes.
„There are many factors that could make American companies wary of oil and gas in Ukraine. I don't think that large companies that have the opportunity to work all over the world will find Ukraine competitive in terms of investment. "Maybe smaller independent companies will be willing to take the risk," said Ben Cahill, an energy expert at the University of Texas.
“We have a hard time finding money to explore natural resources in the United States, Canada and Australia, and imagine how much harder it would be to find money for similar activities in Ukraine,” former Energy Department official Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes told the newspaper.
The signing of the agreement between Ukraine and the United States on underground resources took place on the night of May 1. The Verkhovna Rada is expected to vote on the contract on May 8.