“Natural resources belong to the people, and the proceeds from them should go directly to the people,” said Novak
23 April 14:30
According to the Constitution, Ukraine’s mineral resources belong to its citizens, but currently this right exists mostly “on paper.” For people to truly benefit from these resources, simple economic mechanisms are needed—direct payments to every Ukrainian. Economist Andriy Novak made this statement in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
“According to the Constitution of Ukraine, Ukraine’s mineral resources belong to Ukrainians. Various companies, both Ukrainian and foreign, hold the rights to exploit these resources. But for Ukrainians to truly feel the impact of being the owners of these resources—the mineral rent payments should not go to the state budget, but to a personal account, a Ukrainian citizen’s bank card,” the economist noted.
He adds that the same logic should apply to land: payments for its use should also go directly to citizens. Only then, he says, will the constitutional provision on “people’s ownership” cease to be treated as a mere formality.
Separately, Novak criticized the model under which Ukraine sells raw materials and then buys finished goods at a higher price. He believes this forces the country to work for other economies and prevents Ukrainians from profiting from their own resources.
