In Davos, Ukrainian company BGV Group announced three activity directions.
Serhii Voitsekhovskyi, a member of the BGV Group Board of Directors, presented three promising areas that the company is working on.
He spoke about this during the panel discussion "Ukraine's Untapped Potential as the Next Industrial Leader in Europe" at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
During the meeting, business executives and representatives of the Ukrainian authorities discussed opportunities for industry development.
Voitsekhovskyi noted that the company focuses not only on the extraction of natural resources but also on products with high added value.
The first area of work of BGV Group is energy conservation: one of the most pressing problems in the world energy sector. A member of the Board of Directors noted that Ukraine has deposits of graphite, which can be used to create batteries of a new type.
The second direction is rare-earth metal alloys and their use. It's also an industry in which Ukraine has significant potential because of its own deposits and scientific resources. "We can develop alloys for the aerospace, computer, and other industries," he said.
The third area is the creation of small modular nuclear reactors (SMR). It's the latest technology, which is still under development and certification; several companies in the world are working on it. "Ukraine has a high share of nuclear generation. The country has uranium deposits," Voitsekhovskyi explains the need for the project.
Some global companies claim that their SMR designs will be ready for industrial use as early as 2025. In a comment for BUSINESS after a meeting of business executives and investors at the Davos City Hall, Voitsekhovskyi said that it's too early to talk about specific dates for small modular reactors appearing.
"It's too early to talk [about the timeline], since this sector is quite significantly regulated by both national and international legislation. Our company has a memorandum signed with a large manufacturer, the American company Holtec. Holtec is doing well in obtaining all certificates and permits for production," he said.
Note. BGV Group unites several companies having licenses for exploring and mining deposits of metals and other minerals, in particular uranium, graphite, titanium, and other ores.
The founder of BGV Group is Hennadiy Butkevych, a well-known Ukrainian entrepreneur and owner of the ATB corporation.
Read the full interview: Davos discoveries. Why and how Butkevych's company enters into the "blue ocean" of rare resources
