The Verkhovna Rada approved amendments to the Budget Code to implement the subsoil agreement

The Verkhovna Rada supported the changes to the Budget Code, necessary for the implementation of the agreement between Ukraine and the USA in the field of minerals. 309 People’s Deputies supported the draft law in the second reading. About this reported People’s Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

Among the adopted changes, it is stipulated that Ukraine will direct 50% of revenues from:

• rent for the extraction of minerals (in particular, oil, gas, gas condensate) from new licenses;
• fees for granting new special permits for subsoil use;
• implementation of the state share of production within the new agreements on the distribution of production.

These funds will be credited to the special fund of the state budget and, by decision of the chief administrator from Ukraine, will be transferred to the Reconstruction Fund in accordance with the agreement.

We will remind, on the night of May 1, Ukraine and the USA signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of subsoil use. The document covers 57 types of minerals and establishes political principles for cooperation. Specific mechanisms will be detailed in the future technical agreement.

US President Donald Trump noted that the signing of this agreement aims to protect American investments and financial assistance to Ukraine. In his opinion, it “maybe” will contribute to the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also described the agreement as “a step toward ending the war.”

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that this agreement on economic partnership is a “practical result” of his negotiations with Trump in the Vatican. On May 8, the Verkhovna Rada ratified the agreement, and on May 12, Zelenskyi signed the corresponding law.