Necessary decisions for signing mineral deal with U.S. approved - Ukrainian PM

MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government has approved decisions that pave the way for signing an agreement with the United States on terms and conditions for the establishment of a Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said.

"Ukraine will take an important step very soon [...] An agreement on the creation of an Investment Reconstruction Fund will be signed with the U.S. [...] Today, the government is approving necessary decisions for signing this agreement with the U.S.," Ukrainian media quoted Shmygal as saying at a government meeting on Wednesday.

This agreement has considerably been improved through the negotiation teams' work, he said.

"The agreement no longer mentions the $500 billion debt or any other debt. An unfair point that Ukraine has to repay $2 for each dollar of new aid is no longer there either. Nor is the unfair position that the fund will belong to the U.S. alone. Rather, we are now talking about its joint ownership by Ukraine and the U.S.," Shmygal said.

The agreement will include six key points, he said.

The first point is that Ukraine and the U.S. are establishing a Reconstruction Investment Fund, which will jointly be owned and managed by the governments of both countries.

According to the second point, Ukraine's minerals and resources remain Ukrainian and will not be transferred to the U.S. or any other country.

The third point requires Ukraine to contribute 50% of future revenues from its natural resource assets to the fund.

According to the fourth point, the U.S. will make contributions to the fund in the form of cash, financial instruments and other assets that are critical to Ukraine's recovery.

The fifth point says that the money raised by the fund will be invested solely in reconstruction projects in Ukraine.

"The sixth point is that the agreement takes our commitments within the European integration process into account. That is, there will be no contradictions or inconsistencies with our European integration obligations. Thus, the signing of this agreement will bring double advantage to Ukraine," Shmygal said.

Ukrainian media outlets have published the draft agreement on minerals that Ukraine and the U.S. plan to sign this week.