The joint US-Ukrainian board of the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund approved a second round of investments on October 2. The minerals component creates a joint investment platform with Ukrainian company BGV Group Management to build a portfolio of early-stage mining projects, initially focused on rare-earth, beryllium and zirconium deposits.
On energy, the fund took an equity position in a multi-site distributed combined heat and power cogeneration platform to restore electricity and heat to war-damaged communities, and a debt investment financing DTEK’s 200 MW/400 MWh battery storage system across six sites. The storage system is already operational, with capacity equivalent to roughly 600,000 Ukrainian homes for two hours, using American energy technology.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and DFC CEO Ben Black framed the approvals as proof the fund is open for business, following its first investment in March. Project-level closings and timelines were not disclosed; the approvals precede disbursement.