05.02.2025 Ecology

Trump announces transfer of Ukraine’s nuclear weapons to the US in exchange for aid

How Ukraine’s strategic assets are monopolized by the oligarchy

US President Donald Trump has said he is trying to find a way to exchange Ukraine’s rare earth metals for American aid.

“We tell Ukraine that they have valuable rare earth metals, I want Ukraine to give us rare earth metals,” Trump said.

This statement of the American president is quite logical, as Ukraine does have significant reserves of rare earth metals, which are the basis for the production of electronics, renewable energy technologies, and even military equipment. However, there are a few caveats. For example, most of these metals have long been owned by individuals and offshore companies rather than by the state. They export these resources out of the country, which deprives Ukraine of real opportunities to benefit economically from its natural resources.

Beryllium under the control of Butkevych and Yakymenko’s ATB Group

Beryllium mining at the Perzhanske deposit in Zhytomyr Oblast has long been in the hands of oligarch Butkevych, owner of the ATB empire, and his partners, the Yakymenkos.

The history of the field’s misappropriation began on November 1, 2019, when the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine and Perzhanska Ore Company LLC signed Agreement No. 6383 on the extraction of beryllium ores at the Perzhanske deposit. The company then received a special permit for subsoil use.

Under the terms of the agreement, mining was to start in Q3 2021 and be completed by Q4 2024. However, as it turned out, Perzhanska Ore Company LLC started mining ahead of schedule, violating the terms of the agreement and applicable law.

By the way, the founders of Perzhanska Ore Company LLC are BGV Group Limited, registered in Cyprus, Vitaliy Yakymenko and Oleksandr Nastenko.

Vitaliy Yakymenko is the father of Pavlo Yakymenko, a member of the Servant of the People party. The latter is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Protection and Rational Use of Subsoil. Therefore, there is no question that this allowed the Perzhanska Ore Company to avoid competition at the auction, underestimate the real value of the permit, and even ignore the need to comply with environmental standards.

After the publication of our research on the beryllium seizure at the Zhytomyr deposit, Yakymenko launched a campaign of threats and intimidation: he called mutual acquaintances and demanded that the investigation and publicity be stopped. However, the man did not dare to talk to the representatives of Non-Stop and express his disagreements in person. Perhaps, with such success, Yakymenko should contact US representatives, for example, Elon Musk, who also uses metals in the construction of SpaceX spacecraft.

At present, the Perzhanska Ore Company systematically underreports the volume of beryllium ore it produces, which allows it to evade paying rent to the state budget. In this case, we are not talking about minor violations, but about tens of millions of dollars that could have gone to the budget, but instead end up in the pockets of oligarchs.

Experts estimate that the Perzhanske deposit has beryllium deposits worth about 80-100 billion US dollars. At the same time, the Perzhanska Ore Company not only underestimates production volumes, but also actively evades taxes, which leads to enormous financial losses for the state.

Returning to Trump’s words, imagine how much aid Ukraine could get for the Armed Forces from beryllium mining alone.

At the same time, neither judges nor law enforcement officers provide a proper response. They simply ignore our materials, contributing to the systemic monopolization of Ukraine’s strategic assets. The Shevchenkivskyi and Pecherskyi District Courts of Kyiv reject any complaints, acting in the interests of influential oligarchs rather than the people of Ukraine.

Gas fields under the control of Kolomoisky and Khomutynnik’s Privat Group

The oligarchy also controlled the Sakhalin field, located in Kharkiv region, which is one of the largest gas fields in Ukraine. On the eve of the war, its production revenue amounted to UAH 13 billion per year. The field has long been in the monopoly hands of Ukrnaftoburinnya, which is owned through offshore companies by Kolomoisky, Khomutynnik, and Boholyubov.

And although a number of law enforcement agencies have already initiated criminal proceedings based on our materials, the case is still stalled. It is unlikely that the oligarchy will easily agree to give up its key sources of income, even at the request of its American partners.

Thus, we are witnessing how the most valuable assets – the country’s subsoil – are already in the hands of the “elite”. So how can Ukraine respond to Trump’s statements? Wouldn’t it be better to transfer the assets to the families of the defenders who really risk their lives for Ukraine, rather than to the oligarchs who hide in sunny resorts and remember the country only in a business sense?

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