Ukraine's Sirius to spend $2.2 b on titanium project
Kyiv, September 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Sirius, a private Ukrainian company, plans to invest $2.2 billion in a project to build a mining and metallurgical plant to develop the Kropyvenske titanium-apatite deposit in Zhytomyr region.
Zhytomyr region is like a "Ukrainian Ural," the head of the regional administration, Serhiy Ryzhuk said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
"We have decided on the most ambitious project to build a mining and metallurgical plant, with a total cost of $2.2 billion. This is a colossal project," Ryzhuk said.
He said the regional authorities plan to sign a memorandum on cooperation with Sirius on September 14.
Sirius, which was founded in 1997, is owned and headed by Mykola Scherbyna, who in 2005 was appointed as an adviser to President Viktor Yuschenko. Sirius has a number of subsidiaries: Sirius-Bud, Sirius-Titan and Sirius-Agro.
Sirius acquired the license to the Kropyvenske deposit in 2006 at an auction held by the Environmental Ministry. The deposit contains titanium ore, as well as associated apatite ore and rare-earth metals.