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Ukraine is opening bidding for a major lithium deposit, as the government pushes to advance a minerals deal with the US in spite of a dispute over the rights to the site.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Wednesday the government had approved plans to develop the country’s mineral resources sector, including launching a tender for lithium mining at the Dobra site in central Ukraine.
“We expect an investor who will ensure not only extraction but also the development of value-added production in Ukraine,” she wrote on Telegram, adding that the site has “significant” reserves of the battery metal.
However, Nasdaq-listed Critical Metals claims to already hold the rights to mine the Dobra site, via its relationship with European Lithium, its largest shareholder.
The tender is the first that has been issued as part of a US natural resource deal that is a core element of the Trump administration’s transactional approach to Ukraine. US companies will get preferential treatment as part of the deal.
Signed in May after months of fraught negotiations, the agreement creates a joint fund that will invest in extraction of minerals, oil and gas. Profits will be reinvested in Ukraine and any American military equipment, including arms, provided to Kyiv would be considered a US contribution.
Australian-listed European Lithium told the FT in July that it had been granted the Dobra license, and that its rights to the site had been confirmed by Ukrainian courts.
In spite of that claim, the government has pushed ahead with plans to open a tender.
US government-backed mining company TechMet has expressed interest in developing the Dobra project. Chief executive Brian Menell confirmed on Wednesday that the company would bid when the tender launches.
Critical Metals and European Lithium did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
Mykhailo Zhernov, a board member at both European Lithium and Critical Metals, said in a July interview with the FT that the Dobra license was due to be granted to Petro Consulting, which was acquired by European Lithium in a deal completed in 2024.
However the license was never formally issued despite Petro Consulting winning a Ukrainian court case in 2023 which found the government should issue the license, Zhernov said.
“It is our license, it is our rights. You cannot propose something for another investor, before you finish with us,” Zhernov said in July. “In this fight, we are trying to protect ourselves.”
He warned that the dispute would dampen the investment environment in the war-torn country. “Ukraine should create a good atmosphere for investors, clear rules for the license . . . If the license rules change every two or three years, it cannot work.”
Neither Critical Metals nor European Lithium have provided details of the license or the court ruling to the FT.
Lithium is used in the production of batteries, and is mined in countries including Australia and in South America. However, China dominates the processing of the metal.
Western countries including the US are racing to break their dependency on China for a host of critical minerals including lithium, a push that contributed to President Donald Trump’s imposition this year of hefty tariffs on a range of metals.
Additional reporting by Christopher Miller
