For those who ask: “Why does Ukraine matter? “
This is why Ukraine matters.
Being the second largest country by area in Europe and has a population of over 40 million, Ukraine ranks:
1st in Europe in proven recoverable reserves of uranium ores
2nd place in Europe and 10th place in the world in terms of titanium ore reserves
2nd place in the world in terms of explored reserves of manganese ores (2.3 billion tons, or 12% of the world’s reserves)
2nd largest iron ore reserves in the world (30 billion tons)
2nd place in Europe in terms of mercury ore reserves
3rd place in Europe (13th place in the world) in shale gas reserves (22 trillion cubic meters)
4th in the world by the total value of natural resources
7th place in the world in coal reserves (33.9 billion tons)
Ukraine is an important agricultural country:
1st in Europe in terms of arable land area
3rd place in the world by the area of black soil (25% of world’s volume)
1st place in the world in exports of sunflower and sunflower oil
2nd place in the world in barley production and 4th place in barley exports
3rd largest producer and 4th largest exporter of corn in the world
4th largest producer of potatoes in the world
5th largest rye producer in the world
5th place in the world in bee production (75,000 tons)
8th place in the world in wheat exports
9th place in the world in the production of chicken eggs
16th place in the world in cheese exports
Ukraine can meet the food needs of 600 million people.
Ukraine is an important industrialized country:
1st in Europe in ammonia production
Europe’s 2nd’s and the world’s 4th largest natural gas pipeline system
3rd largest in Europe and 8th largest in the world in terms of installed capacity of nuclear power plants;l
3rd place in Europe and 11th in the world in terms of rail network length (21,700 km)
3rd place in the world (after the U.S. and France) in production of locators and locating equipment
3rd largest iron exporter in the world
4th largest exporter of turbines for nuclear power plants in the world
4th world’s largest manufacturer of rocket launchers
4th place in the world in clay exports
4th place in the world in titanium exports
8th place in the world in exports of ores and concentrates
9th place in the world in exports of defence industry products
10th largest steel producer in the world (32.4 million tons)
Ukraine matters. That is why its independence is important to the rest of the world. These resources are why Russia is chomping at the bits to take it.

https://ukraineinvest.gov.ua/industries/mining/?fbclid=IwAR25AhYe9RmTPCDhn8SjqnOMmo4WNJGY1f1ABjRQRr2yromDwmlnTFJ_gSg

Mining

Ukraine has extremely rich and complementary mineral resources in high concentrations and close proximity to each other. The country has abundant reserves of coal, iron ore, natural gas, manganese, salt, oil, graphite, sulfur, kaolin, titanium, nickel, magnesium, timber, and mercury.

Ukraine is among the largest producers of the following minerals:

Metallic minerals

• 7th place in the world in iron extraction: 39 M tonnes and 2.4% of global output (after Australia, China, Brazil, India, Russia and RSA)
• 8th place in the world in manganese extraction: 651 thousand tonnes and 3.6% of global output (after RSA, Australia, China, Gabon, Brazil, Ghana and India)
• 6th place in the world in titanium extraction: 431 thousand tonnes and 6.3% of global output (after China, RSA, Australia, Canada і Mozambique) 
• 2nd place in the world in gallium extraction: 9 tonnes and 2.9% of global output (after China)
• 5th place in the world in germanium extraction: 1 tonne and 1% of global output (after China, Russia, USA and Japan)

Non-metallic minerals

• 6th place in the world in kaolins extraction: 2,4 M tonnes and 5,9% of global output (after China, USA, Germany, India and Czech Republic)
• 10th place in the world in zirconium silicate extraction: 26 thousand tonnes and 1,9% of global output (after Australia, RSA, China, Mozambique, Senegal, USA, Kenia, India and Indonesia)
• 8th place in the world in graphite extraction: 13 thousand tonnes and 1.3% of global output (after China, Brazil, North Korea, India, Russia, Canada and Madagascar)

Mineral fuels

• 13th place in the world in power plant coal extraction: 18,9 M tonnes and 0,4% of global output (after China, India, USA, Indonesia, Australia, RSA, Russia, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Poland, Vietnam and Canada)
• 12th place in the world in coking coal extraction: 5,2 M tonnes and 0,5% of global output (after China, Australia, Russia, USA, India, Canada, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Poland, Mozambique and Colombia)
• 10th place in the world in uranium extraction: 1 tonne and 1,4% of global output (after Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia, Namibia, Niger, Uzbekistan, Russia, China and USA)

In recent years, the Government significantly improved and liberalized the system of granting permits for extraction of minerals. Moreover, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine presented an Investment Atlas of Subsoil Management, which comprises over 140 fields to be set for electronic auctions in the nearest future.