The expert assessed the EU's position in the race for rare minerals

Currently, Brussels is playing the role of catching up in the race for rare earth metals, Ruslan Dimukhamedov, chairman of the Association of Producers and Consumers of Rare and Rare Earth Metals, told Izvestia.

Immobility in Paris: the EU struggles to hold its ground on the international stage

Why Kiev's allies cannot reach a common denominator on supporting Ukraine

"Europe, of course, is now playing the role of catching up. If there is still an automotive or aviation industry there, as a consumer of end products made of rare earth metals, then intermediate processing has been lost," he noted.

According to Dimukhamedov, the main problem of the European industry is that it consumes finished products made of rare earth metals, rather than primary compounds. In particular, this applies to the automotive industry, as Chinese electric vehicles displace European ones from all markets.

Earlier it became known that the European Union offered Kiev to conclude an agreement on "critically important materials." European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stefan Sejournay noted that Ukraine "can provide the EU with 21 out of 30 essential materials."

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Ore reserves: EU loses in race for rare earth metals