The seizure of raw materials buried under Ukrainian soil is at the heart
of the conflict, in which the voices of imperialist and industrialpowers take precedence over those of Ukrainians. Titanium, oil, iron,gas, manganese... Control over fossil resources and minerals buried onUkrainian territory is at the heart of the conflict. And they takepriority over the environment and people's interests. ---- Part One ----Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2014 with the annexation ofCrimea and Donbass, is the sad projection of the new Russian nationalidentity shaped by Vladimir Putin since he came to power: militaristic,expansionist and anti-Western. Galia Akerman brilliantly described inThe Immortal Regiment (published by Premier Parallèle, 2019) thispolitics that cements Russian society around a nostalgic messianismtowards a Greater Russia, of which Ukraine must be an integral part.Like this conflict is this confrontation over metals, oil and gas, whichhas not stopped intensifying since 2014, as the rapprochement of theUkrainian governments with Western powers has allowed the United Statesand the European Union to plan to extract raw materials from this richgifted country.Un casus belli pour Moscou. (Moscow War Reason)In 2010, large deposits of shale gas were discovered in Ukraine. Thelargest is located in Yuzivska in the Kharkiv region, in the easternpart of the country. Its reserves account for a third of Ukraine'sannual gas consumption. In 2013, US companies Shell and Chevron receivedpermits. Against a background of corruption: the Minister of Resourcesat the time, Mykola Zlochevsky, was also the president of BurismaHoldings, one of Ukraine's largest private gas companies. This group,believed to be close to Joe Biden, brought his son Hunter Biden to itsboard of directors in 2014. The giant mining project in Yuzivska hassparked opposition from residents of the region who have mobilizedagainst water pollution, which will result from hydraulic fracturing, atechnique banned in France. But this campaign, says the UkrainianStrategic Communications Center, has been instrumentalized by Russia,"which is usually completely indifferent to environmental issues": ithas largely supported the "Shale gas is the death of Donbass" movement.The largest gas deposits in EuropeIn fact, Ukraine, which is dependent on the Russian company Gaz-prom,would have the largest gas reserves in Europe after Russia. Theexploitation of these reserves would allow it not only to become moreautonomous, but also to allow American companies to export their gas toEurope to the detriment of Gazprom. A similar scenario played out nearCrimea during the same period. Following the discovery of large oil andgas deposits in the Black Sea, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Chevron receivedexploration permits in 2012. In late November 2013, Ukraine also signedan agreement with France's EDF and Italy's ENI to exploit hydrocarbonseast of Crimea with the goal of producing 3 million tons of oil peryear. All these projects "were either abandoned or frozen after theannexation of Crimea," notes Maxim Bugriy, from the Ukrainian region.According to Robert Muga of Canadian strategic analysis firm SecDev, the2014 conquests have allowed Russia to "capture half of Ukraine'sconventional oil, 72% of its natural gas and most of its coal productionin its regions." They are located in the Donbass, once one of the maincoal-producing areas of the USSR and the birthplace of Stakhanov, theminer who became a legendary figure in Soviet propaganda.A strategic dungeonSince the February 2022 invasion, Russia has captured 41 coal mines,about 50 gas and oil sites, and about 10 strategic mining sites,according to SecDev. Indeed, there is also a battle for metals inUkraine. The bowels of the country hide huge deposits, estimated by theUkrainian Geological Survey to be worth 7,500 billion dollars. Ukraineis ranked fifth in the world for its iron and graphite, two criticalareas for the production of electric batteries.It is also the sixth largest producer of titanium in the world, astrategic metal for aeronautical production. It harbors significantdeposits of lithium, copper, cobalt and rare earth elements important tothe energy sector as well as electronics. That is why the European Unionconcluded in July 2021 a strategic metals and batteries partnership withUkraine, initiated and gradually strengthened since 2014 after thepro-Western Poroshenko government came to power. This partnershipresponds to the desire of the European Union (and more broadly NATO) tosecure the supply of raw materials for its industry against Chinese andRussian monopolies. In theory, these are "transition" metals; inpractice, their importance is much greater.For example, the import of titanium, which is crucial for Airbus andSafran, will be ensured; zirconium, three quarters for nuclear;scandium, a byproduct of titanium metallurgy for fuel cells andultralight space alloys; or molybdenum used in superalloys, screens andelectronic chips. As for semiconductor production, the US industry is90% dependent on ultrapure neon produced in Odessa from gas from thesteel mills.In line with this partnership, Ukraine is trying to expand its mines andits metallurgical industry, to cooperate with the European (EuroGeoSurveys) and the US (USGS) Geological Surveys (in English "InvestmentAtlas", cataloging the available deposits of critical metals) .According to Ukraine Invest, it had 8,761 deposits in 2021. Since 2016,the government has started selling mining permits through electronicauctions. Between 2018 and 2021, the number of granted permits increasedfrom 150 to 377, and the number of electronic auctions from 10 to 160.In 2019, Metinvest, the metallurgical company of Rinat Akhmetov, therichest man in Ukraine, is connected with the giant Glencore(Switzerland) to exploit one of the main iron deposits in the country,in Shimanivsk, not far from Zaporizhia.A war for resourcesIn 2021, the Austrian company European Lithium gained access to lithiumdeposits in the country, including the one in Shevchenkovsk, located inthe Donbass. The graphite mines in the Nikolaev region in the south ofthe country have been granted to the Australian company Volt Resources.After the invasion of Crimea, the Russian giant DF lost its titaniummines, while the other deposits in the country are now operated by theUkrainian-American company Velta Resources. These deposits are asstrategic for NATO countries as they are for Russia.For Olivia Lazard of the Carnegie Institution, "Russia's intention isclear - to get access to the same resources that Europe needs toimplement its law of coexistence." Russia is the world's second largestproducer of aluminum and the largest exporter of nickel used inbatteries. It also dominates the market for palladium, used inparticular to make fuel cells.Such is the dependence of Western buyers on these raw materials that theLondon Metal Exchange has abandoned its ban on the sale of Russianmetals. According to Olivia Lazard, Moscow is seeking to gain a footholdin new energy markets while strengthening its status as a majorexporter. Therefore, the offensive in Ukraine should be placed "in thewider context of the maneuvers of the Wagner group, a mercenary companyunofficially linked to the Kremlin, whose owner Prigozhin also runsmining companies such as Lobaye Invest, present in countries richlyendowed with mineral resources such as Mozambique, Madagascar, CentralAfrican Republic and Mali'. Therefore, the background of the Russianaggression against Ukraine is also this clash over the supply ofcritical materials, the first victim of which is the Ukrainian population.On 16 November in Brussels, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal andMinister of Natural Resources Ruslan Strylets took part in the RawMaterials Week, which was held in Brussels in the presence of MarosShefcovych, European Commissioner and initiator of the MetalsPartnership with Ukraine. On this occasion, the latter recalled theterms of the partnership: "It will help Ukraine integrate into the EUand is an essential element for the European Union in consolidating oursupplies of raw materials and our geostrategic status." Despite thebombings, Minister Ruslan Strylets assured that the reform of The miningcode is almost complete and that the office that issues the permitsworks "at the service of the investors who will come after the war andeven before the victory." Jürgen Rigterink, vice president of theEuropean Development Bank, specified that the latter is the maininvestor in the country with up to 19 billion euros, funds thanks towhich "Ukraine can become a superpower of raw materials."What is Ukraine's independence from European interests?Ukraine dreams of independence and that is why the majority ofUkrainians supported its rapprochement with the EU. But the question is,what room for maneuver will they leave to the country's leaders whenthey have to pay back the tens of billions of euros in loans agreed withthe EBRD, the World Bank, the US and European countries that crave itsnatural resources?"We will not only rebuild Ukraine, but we will build it better, moreecologically," Marosh Shefcovych assured Ukrainian ministers on November16. But can we restore Ukraine "greener" by turning the country into amining paradise for European industry? We know that mining is the mostpolluting industrial sector and the leading producer of waste in the world.What do the Ukrainian people think? Since 2004, residents of theMariupol region of Donbas have opposed the exploitation of the rareearth and zirconium deposits in Azov, due to the risks of radioactivecontamination, and have twice suspended the issuance of a permit. Thelast auction of the deposit in January 2021 caused major protests in theManhaus and Nikolskoye districts. Once the war is over, won't Ukrainiansbe surprised to find that while they have been trying to survive Russianattacks and bombings, their regions have been sold to Western mining andgas companies?Translation from "Express" magazinehttps://www.anarchy.bg_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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