REUTERS
This requires that the Verkhovna Rada vote in the law on a 15-year strategy for electric cars production in Ukraine.
"Europe has lost their battle for electric cars and desperately tries to catch up with the train that has already started moving. Moreover, Europe slept through the moment when all lithium and cobalt deposits appeared to be in possession of others, so now the EU is completely dependent on suppliers of lithium batteries," Omelyan wrote in a Facebook posting.
Commenting on a Tuesday's report by CNN titled "China is killing Europe's electric car dreams," Omelyan says Ukraine should stand on the position that the country has Europe's richest deposits of lithium and cobalt, and could possibly become a global center for producing batteries and electric cars.
Therefore, the "EU and U.S. still have rather good chances together with us," the minister believes.
"This only requires that the Verkhovna Rada vote in our law on a 15-year strategy for electric cars production in Ukraine so that we could attract globally-acclaimed strategists to creating a new high-tech industry and tens of thousands of jobs," Omelyan wrote, adding that the efforts should also include "persistent work to attract such investors and create a comfortable environment for their operations in Ukraine."
According to a CNN story, "Europe gave the world some of its top automakers, but it's losing out to China in the race to define the industry's future."
China is the driving force in the business of electric vehicle batteries, which European leaders see as vital to the future of the auto industry that employs millions of people across the continent.
"It may be too late to catch up," the report reads.
About two-thirds of the world's manufacturing capacity for lithium-ion batteries, those most commonly used in electric vehicles, is in China, according to consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.
Europe is estimated to have just 1% of the market.