MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. Ukrainian lithium deposits lack competitive advantages, Acting CEO of UMCC Titanium Egor Perelygin said on his page in the LinkedIn (blocked in Russia).

"The claim of ‘come to us, we have lithium’ is incorrect and problematic from the outset. The deposits are underdeveloped, lack competitive advantages, and face extremely unfavorable economic conditions," the senior executive stated.

The global market dynamics suggest that a player like Ukraine "will struggle to compete," Perelygin explained. "The cost of extraction and processing in Ukraine will significantly exceed that in Australia, Argentina, and especially China," he pointed out.

Lithium projects demand substantial investments, the senior executive elaborated. "Even if mines and a processing plant costing hundreds of millions of dollars are built, an electrochemical processing facility must also be constructed," he emphasized. He noted that the cost of a single such facility is around $1 billion.

Kiev has proposed a joint exploitation of mineral resources, including lithium and titanium, to US President-elect Donald Trump, adviser to Vladimir Zelensky’s office Mikhail Podolyak had stated earlier.