Ukraine has already begun auditing the business owners who currently hold licenses for the management of mineral resources. Authorities will verify the legality of these licenses, and some may lose them.

This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference during the "Ukraine. Year – 2025" forum in Kyiv on February 23.

The U.S. Treasury Department revealed details of the agreement with Ukraine regarding rare earth metalsThe head of the U.S. Treasury, Scott Bessent, discussed key aspects of the agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine on rare earth metals, which is set to be signed shortly.

In particular, the president was asked: whether government authorities would check the licenses of Ukrainian business owners from previous years who also had permission to manage mineral resources, and how this would be carried out.

According to Zelensky, there are quite a number of license holders in Ukraine.

“Firstly, all our agencies will conduct a real audit (of license holders – ed.) and this is already happening. Because the last developments occurred 50-60 years ago. And this precisely gives us the opportunity to bring order here. What exists, how much it costs, and who owns it. And there will be corresponding decisions regarding whether something is legally owned or illegally. These are either ‘dormant’ licenses or active ones,” he stated.

Zelensky noted that where there are indeed active licenses, they will be retained. Where “someone has stolen something,” it will be returned to the state.

In his opinion, detailed decisions should be worked out in the Cabinet of Ministers.

Recall that on February 19, Zelensky mentioned that the preliminary draft agreement on the use of mineral resources proposed by the U.S. lacked clear points. Following this, the Trump administration provided Ukraine with an updated mineral agreement.

On February 21, it was reported that Ukraine and the U.S. plan to finalize the mineral agreement by the end of the week.

Yesterday, media outlets reported that Zelensky is still not ready to sign the agreement.