“Ukraine granted the right to mine lithium from the Dobra deposit in the Kirovohrad region to a consortium of American investors, including billionaire Ronald Lauder and US government-backed TechMet”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Lauder is a major donor to the New York Republican Party and sole heir to the cosmetics company Estee Lauder, founded by his parents, Estee and Joseph Lauder. Forbes estimated his fortune as of May 2025 at $4.7 billion, placing him in 796th place on the list of the world’s billionaires. He has known Trump since university.
Lithium is a key component for technologies such as electric batteries and computer boards. The Trump administration is taking a special interest in it and other rare earth metals around the world in an effort to reduce the U.S.’s dependence on supplies from China.
Kyiv has not yet commented on the transfer of the field to American investors. But two members of the commission of the Ukrainian government told the newspaper on condition of anonymity that the decision was made.
“The decision still requires the official approval of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, while officials said that the agreement has actually been concluded,” the newspaper writes. The article also states that the winning consortium outpaced its competitors by fulfilling most of the tender criteria set by the Ukrainian authorities. It is not known exactly how much Lauder and TechMet have committed to invest in the development of the field, but the tender set a minimum investment of $179 million.
In May 2025, the United States and Ukraine signed an agreement on the development of rare earth metals in the Ukrainian subsurface. Trump said at the time that the US would “theoretically get a lot more than the $350 billion” he said had been allocated to Ukraine in military aid.
