Expert Says Ukraine Has One of the Biggest Lithium Reserves In Europe
Over time Ukraine will be able to produce enough batteries for electric cars to supply auto concerns all over Europe. Konstantin Evtushenko, an expert on investment attraction and car promotion revealed Ukraine’s hidden potential in an interview with Gazeta.ua.
“We have one of the biggest lithium reserves in Europe, sitting in Donetsk and Kirovograd. Public research has been conducted on this metal deposit. Its concentrations are quite good,” Evtushenko said, adding that it has massive potential for future Ukrainian industry. “Perspectives are interesting enough because Ukraine is a neighbor of the large car manufacturers. Now they purchase batteries in the Far East, where lithium is delivered from Latin America. The battery is heavy and the transit is expensive and takes a long time. But it takes 2 days for us to deliver shipments by train and the battery is there at the factory in Europe.”
Unfortunately, according to Evtushenko, it is difficult to speculate about the potential of lithium mining because the reserves lay close to military operations and finding investors has proven to be difficult.