Ukraine possesses 5% of the world’s resources but remains the poorest country in Europe, according to Novak
22 April 18:29
Despite its significant mineral reserves, Ukraine is the poorest country in Europe.
Economist Andriy Novak stated this in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
“About 5% of the world’s natural resources are concentrated in Ukraine, which accounts for just 0.5% of the world’s land area,” he noted.
The economist explains: Ukraine has a powerful resource base—from black soil to rare earth metals, which are critically important for modern technologies today. In particular, Ukraine ranks among the leaders in Europe in terms of lithium reserves.
“We hold a third of Europe’s lithium reserves. For titanium ore, we’re in the world’s top ten. For uranium ore, we’re in the world’s top eleven, with 7% of global reserves. For graphite, we’re in the world’s top five,” he said.
However, despite this potential, Ukrainians remain poor. According to Novak, the situation was already critical even before the full-scale war.
“According to official Eurostat statistics, in 2021 we ranked last in Europe in terms of per capita income,” he added.
The economist emphasizes: the reason is not a lack of resources, nor even the war. The key problem lies in the country’s economic model itself.
“This ozone hole is called the economic system. Our economic system is so inefficient that we cannot convert our resources—the richest in Europe—into a corresponding standard of living for Ukrainians,” Novak comments.
According to him, Ukraine has been operating under a raw materials model for years: it sells resources abroad and then buys finished goods back at a much higher price.
“We export resources—raw materials. The countries that buy these raw materials from us then use them to make finished goods, ship them back to us, and we buy these finished goods with whatever little money we have,” says the economist.
Novak emphasizes that this is precisely what prevents the country from realizing its economic potential, which, in his estimation, could secure Ukraine a key position among Europe’s leading economies.
“In terms of economic potential, considering its resources, geostrategic, geopolitical, geographical, and economic position, Ukraine belongs among at least the top five economies in Europe,” Novak emphasizes.
At the same time, he adds that economic problems have been accumulating for decades and have become one of the reasons for the country’s vulnerability to external threats.
“The war is, in part, a result of the fact that during our years of independence—almost 30 years of independence—instead of developing our economy, we destroyed it,” says Novak.
Despite this, according to the economist, Ukraine has a strong internal resource—primarily human—which has already proven its resilience during the war.
